


The Voice of Albion

by KungThomasDenTrettonde



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Slash, The Voice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-05-30 21:09:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6440878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KungThomasDenTrettonde/pseuds/KungThomasDenTrettonde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur Pendragon, son of famous blues singer Uther Pendragon and world-renowned violinist Ygraine de Bois, has run out of other options. A failed record contract was the last straw and now here he was, standing on-stage on the Voice of Albion. <br/>Modern Merthur AU (with other pairings) based on the Voice. Rated M for later saucy scenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Blind Audition

Arthur had never been this nervous before anything, he realised, as he stood in the queue to the door. At the end of the queue of 50 or so people there was a couch where the presenters sat interviewing the potential acts. He clutched his audition slip tightly in his hand as he drew closer and closer to the doors.

The guy and the girl behind him were in a hushed conversation, which was not helpful as Arthur was ~~calmly~~ frantically going over his lyrics and routine in his head. _They're probably nervous too_ he told himself _so be nice and just let it slide_. That was until one of them tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me." it was the girl, who now Arthur looked at her was rather pretty. "Are you... Sorry, I've never done this sort of approaching thing before, but aren't you Arthur Pendragon?"

"Uh... Yeah, I am." he replied, quite unsure of what to do. Arthur, who had only ever released one demo EP, had never even been recognised.

"I told you so." The guy next to her said. He was quite gangly with dark hair and the most ridiculous scarf on. "I'm Merlin, this is Gwen."

Gwen took over. "I wasn't sure if it was you. My father, Tom Smith, he was a cellist, worked with your mother Ygraine a lot." She paused as if unsure as to continue. "I'm ever so sorry for your loss."

Arthur waved a hand. "It's alright, long time ago now. I think I remember Tom, looked quite similar to you and he had that skeletal cello."

"He did." Gwen nodded. "And Merlin here, who wouldn't like to admit it in front of you, owns your EP. We both do."

 _Oh_. "Really? Er... How did you find it?" Arthur asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer

"It was really quite good. _'Excalibur',_ despite the cheesy title, was the favourite for both of us. So much so that it seems surprising to see you in a queue for the Voice of Albion."

Arthur chuckled nervously. "Well, the whole EP didn't really go to plan." He turned, and saw that in the time they'd been talking he'd reached the front of the queue. "Oh, it's my turn. Good luck to you both!"

 _Glad to be out of that_ he told himself as he went and sat down across from one of the show's two presenters, Nimueh Cara. Whilst music was a strength of his, he did have undeniably good people skills. Well, when he wasn't jumped in a queue trying to be incognito that is. He talked about his parents when she asked and how they didn't know he was here, and about his failed EP. Nimueh seemed to know everything about him, likely that a big background check was done.

Soon enough he was walking through backstage and onto the main stage. Spread out before him were the four chairs, all facing away from him. _One of you turn, that's all I want I swear._

A deep breath

The band started tapping drum sticks

Focus

Arthur raised the violin to his neck, and slowly began to draw the bow across the strings into the opening. Everything was fine; he was in his element on stage. With one last breath, he began.

 _How can you see into my eyes like open doors?_  
_Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb_  
_Without a soul my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold_  
_Until you find it there and lead it back home_

_Because,_

_Now that I know what I'm without_  
_You can't just leave me_  
_Breathe into me and make me real_  
_Bring me to life._

 _Wake me up inside_  
_Wake me up inside_  
_Call my name and save me from the dark_  
_Bid my blood to run_  
_Before I come undone_  
_Save me from the nothing I've become._

_Bring me to life  
Bring me to life_

The final note he held, and held it high. He had even thrown in plenty of vocal gymnastics into the chorus, fitting well around his violin parts. He had been so engrossed in his performance that he hadn't given any attention to the chairs in front of him, three out of the four of which were now facing him.

On the right was the pop and soul singer Morgana LeFay, to the left was country singer Freya Bastet. Sandwiched between them was the chair still with his back to him - Gaius who was an old crooner - and the other turned chair of the lead singer and front man of the Camelot Knights, Lancelot DuLac.

The lights behind Arthur blurred into a frenzy as the audience cheered and whooped. Gaius' chair turned around as Morgana, Freya and Lance stood up to applaud Arthur.

He could feel himself blushing as he stood there, in front of the microphone. All at once, everything slowed to a halt.

"What's your name?" Morgana asked me, all of the coaches sitting back down in their chairs.

"Arthur Pendragon." I replied.  The nerves had already started to get back to me.

Morgana looked like a light bulb had lit over her head. "Of course it is, how didn't I hear the voice. I have your EP."

_Bloody hell. Twice in one day._

"Even worse." Gaius said. "Uther will never forgive me for not turning for his son. Is he out back boy?"

"No, he, well he doesn't know I'm here tonight."

They chatted backstory for another minute or so, asking about his EP and the pressure he must feel due to his parents musical background. They then began pitching, Morgana and Lancelot getting into a heated argument over him whilst Freya told him that she turned because he deserved more, though if he wanted to join her team he was more than welcome.

"Athur, I promise you, come with me and we can win this competition. I won it last year, I'll do it again with you!" Lance petitioned him

"Arthur." Morgana interjected, "I don't want you to win this competition I want you to take over the music industry. I loved your EP, you're a fantastic artist and I can take you to the top I promise you that."

"It's time." Gaius spoke, silencing Lance's attempt at a counter-pitch. "Arthur, please pick your coach."

 _Who will I pick_ he thought. Lance seemed the obvious choice due to their similarity in style, but something else was drawing him to Morgana, almost like fate. "I think I'm gonna go with Team Morgana."

Rapturous applause followed his choice as Morgana leapt out her chair, somehow ran to him in her 6" heels and pulled him into a hug. "You've made the right choice." She told him, before leading him down to be congratulated by the other coaches.

Nimeuh stood waiting outside and instantly interviewed him about his experience and how it felt to be on Team Morgana. After that, the production queue showed him to a seat in the audience where he could watch more of the acts. Most of the audience was either production crew or other singers and their families used to act as a live studio audience.

He had gotten a seat near the front, and Morgana raised her eyebrows at him as the chairs turned.

Onto the stage came the two Arthur has spoken with in the queue. Merlin looked somewhat awkward next to Gwen, holding a guitar whilst the crew adjust the height of the microphones. Gwen, also holding a violin which she did not have in the queue brought it up and placed the bow on the string.

As the band kicked in, Merlin began.

 _It was a crush_  
_But I couldn't, couldn't get enough_  
_It was a rush_  
_But I gave it up_

 _Holy shit he can actually sing_ Arthur thought. The timbre of Merlins voice was deep, unlike his speaking voice but pleasant and soothing. Gwen then came in.

 _It was a crush_  
_Now I might have went and said too much_  
_But that's all it was_  
_So I gave it up_

Gwen's voice was sweet, high, the perfect contrast to Merlin's tone. _Turn_! Arthur thought. Gaius was clearly not going to, looking bored. Freya looked excited, as did Morgana, whilst Lance was mouthing to both that there wasn't much he could offer them.

The chorus kicked in with Merlin and Gwen dueting, the voices blending together.

 _I live my day as if it were the last_  
_Live each day as if there was no past_  
_Doin' it all night, all summer_  
_Doin' it the way I wanna_

 _They were better soloists, definitely_ Arthur thought as he watched Freya's face fall.  Morgana however, slammed her button, turning around.

 _Yeah Imma dance my heart out 'til the dawn_  
But I won't be done when morning comes  
Doin' it all night all summer  
Gonna spend it like no other

Morgana started directing them halfway through the verse, pointing at Merlin and indicating that he should go up a key, whilst indicating Gwen should go down. Both did for the final reprise of the Chorus and honestly it sounded much better.

The other chairs swivelled once the song ended, Merlin and Gwen hugging each other laughing and cheering. So they were on Team Morgana.

The chit-chat was similar with him, asking about what they did. There was one different question however.

"So..." Lance asked. "You two?"  
Merlin laughed. "No, nothing like that. Gwen is like my sister."  
_So they weren't together._ Arthur wasn't sure why he particularly cared. At the end of the day, they were competition and would likely either face him in the Battle rounds or the Knockouts should they get through.

After the pair went off stage they went to sit next to Arthur in the only two available seats at the time. Gwen asked about his audition and he congratulated them on theirs. They were obliged to watch at least another ten auditions as part of the audience.

The next singer was a teenager who sang _Style_ completely off-key. No turns for her. Next however was a complete banger. A blonde woman in a full bodysuit started belting out Ariana Grande's _Focus_. The woman, called Morgause, also joined Morgana's team. A male and rather attractive singer called Leon followed up with a cut-down performance of _Dollhouse_ by Melanie Martinez which shouldn't have worked but did. He joined Team Morgana, being the second consecutive four turn. Following that was Percival, who joined Team Lance after covering the Foo Fighters and a singer called Sophia who joined Team Freya after four turns for her cover of _Little Talks_ by Of Monsters and Men.

Arthur stayed to watch a few more of the auditions after that, though none were particularly interesting and nobody got more than two turns. In the end, he got up, said goodbye to Gwen, Merlin and Morgause who had also started talking to them and left. An executive took some extra details from him and informed him that he would be told in a few days when rehearsals for the battles would take place.

Morgana caught him at the door however.

"Arthur!" she called out. He paused while she caught up to him. "I wanted to congratulate you. We don't really get time to under the cameras." She pressed a piece of paper into his hand. "This is for your father. He'll be able to explain it to you, so you can read it, but not here. And not a word should go out to anyone about this.

Arthur opened the paper when he got on the train back home. It had a sentence, artfully scrawled in pencil across it.

 _The daughter of Gorlois_  



	2. The Battles - Day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Arthur battles a fierce opponent, Morgana spills the beans and Leon get's very drunk. Warning, contains mature scenes.

Arthur spent a quiet few days at home. His father was away on a comeback tour in the US, so he hadn't had a chance to ask about the note Morgana had given him. Some research showed that Gorlois was Morgana's father, though what that had anything to do with Uther Arthur didn't know. Still, he emailed his father the question and left it hanging.

The call for rehearsals came a couple of days later. Surprisingly, when Arthur picked up the phone it was Morgana who spoke back to him.

"Arthur, Hey. It's Morgana LeFay, yeah we're gonna be doing the Battles paring on Friday at 7:00am back at the studio, that and rehearsals."

"I'll be there." He said, then added, "I haven't been able to ask..."

Morgana interrupted him. "Not now, we can talk about it when you're here if you want."

So, that Thursday, Arthur caught the train to London and spent the night in a budget hotel. He shaved in the morning, did his hair and caught a bus to the nearest stop to the studio. From there, he walked the fifteen minute walk into the studio and was soon directed to a large made-up room. The whole of Team Morgana, which from the looks of it was nine soloists, two duets and a trio of teenage girls as a group.

"Right guys." Morgana said. "You sit over there, I stand up here looking fabulous, and I'll call you up to pair groups up for battles."

Arthur went and sat between Morgause and another guy called Mordred, who kind of gave him the creeps.

"Firstly I want to say, Team Morgana is even stronger than last year. We were pipped to the post last year and that will not be happening again. You will all be singing songs in the battle that should put you out of your comfort zone. Now, we have the honours of the first battle. In one corner will be... Arthur."

 _At least if I fuck it up I can get stolen_. Arthur thought.

"He will be going up against... Mordred."

The rest of the team clapped as they did when Arthur was called as Mordred came and stood up next to Arthur.

"You both auditioned with what could be described as power-ballads. Therefore, you two will be singing..." Morgana paused for dramatic effect, " _Elastic_ _Heart_ by Sia."

Mordred sighed in apprehension, whilst Arthur just nodded. The two then sat down, while the next duel was announced.

"Morgause and Powderpuff" called out Morgana. The trio of girls and the blonde and dashing Morgause stood up. "You will be singing _Hips Don't Lie_ by Shakira. Yes, a classic, don't look too frightened."

The next pairing up was a guy called Cenred with another guy called Lance. The two were told they would be singing _Touch_ by Pia Mia.

Next up, Merlin and Gwen were called to sing against a duet of a tall guy called Elyan and his girlfriend Viv. "You will be singing..." Morgana said, again with a dramatic pause, "Halo by Beyoncé."

 _Christ that's harsh_ Arthur thought. Beyoncé would be hard to nail for anyone except Beyoncé. Though he was singing Sia and that had proved to be a curse for the three people who had tried to do Sia in the Knockouts last year and had all crashed out.

The other battles were quickly assigned and they all headed off to the coffee room or the rehearsal room. As Arthur and Mordred were up first they rehearsed first.

Morgana took them through the song, assigning different lyrics to each of the pair and advising them to ad-lib and throw in vocal gymnastics as much as they wished, so long as they didn't go too crazy. The two were then shown into another room with another piano player to practise.

Mordred was an intense singer, and very emotional. The pain really shone through with the song, which was for Arthur not a very good sign. The piano player stopped halfway through, taking Arthur back into the main room to have a 'Confidence’ talk with Morgana even though he didn't need it.

"I promise I'll be okay on the night." Arthur told her.

"It's a TV thing the producers want. You got picked as a problem one, so we're gonna talk about pressure and you're parents careers etc. and then you can nail it on the night. Hopefully anyway."

The crew soaked up every word as Arthur told Morgana about the pressure due to his parent's success.

"Arthur, if you bring that emotion to the song, I know you'll nail it on the night. Everyone there will be rooting for you."

After the talk and a hug from Morgana, he was pulled back in to keep rehearsing and somehow, even though the talk hadn't done anything for him, he felt that bit better about the performance the following night.

He practised heavily at home, stretching his voice at places. The violin wouldn't make an appearance this time to highlight his voice more, though he would feel less confident without it.

Saturday night rolled around quickly and before he knew it he was in the waiting room while at the front, Nimueh and the other presenter, Kanen, introduced the judges and the first acts.

Then he was being pushed  out on stage with Mordred and before he even had time to collect his thoughts the light's were dimming. Mordred was opening so Arthur focused on his breathing.

_And another one bites the dust  
Oh why can I not conquer love?_

Mordred had soul in his voice, and Arthurs voice shook as he took up his first lines.

_And I might have thought that we were one  
Wanted to fight this war without weapons_

His opponent had clearly heard the shake as a rallying cry, so began to belt out the pre-chorus.

_You did not break me  
I'm still fighting for peace_

He held the last note, eyeing Arthur the whole time. _Arthur you idiot_ he told himself _don't let this ass walk all over you_. That's when he saw Merlin and Gwen in the audience. They weren't performing tonight so weren't in the waiting room. His eyes locked with Merlin's, and a confidence began to flood through him, though quite why it did he did not know.

 _We'll I've got a thick skin and an elastic heart_  
_But your blade it might be too sharp_  
_I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard_  
_Yeah I may snap and I move fast_  
_And you won't see me fall apart_  
_'Cause I've got an elastic heart_

The new-found confidence in Arthur caused his voice to echo, loudly over the music, the final line full of vibrato.

Mordred began to counter, throwing every single vibrato and vocal gymnastic out there that he could. Arthur caught a glance at Morgana's face, and she was frowning at Mordred.

 _And I will stay up through the night_  
_And let's be clear, won't close my eyes_  
_And I know that I can survive_  
_I'll walk through fire to save my life_

The emotion was showing in Mordred's voice, as he delivered his lines, the crowd applauding every word. As they had rehearsed, the two began to circle each other while Arthur started his pre-chorus.

_You did not break me  
I'm still fighting for peace_

Glancing over, he saw Freya and Lance both nodding and Gaius raising his eyebrows at Morgana. Mordred must have noticed this too as he began to shout his chorus.

 _We'll I've got a thick skin and an elastic heart_  
_But your blade it might be too sharp_  
_I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard_  
_Yeah I may snap and I move fast_  
_And you won't see me fall apart_  
_'Cause I've got an elastic heart_

The final line was more a shriek than it was sung, and as he held the final note, he brought his voice higher and higher. Then it cracked. And it was horrible.

_I've got an elastic heart_

Arthur countered, finishing the song. He cut out any vocal moves, simply delivering the line perfectly.

The music halted, and the crowd were on their feet, cheering loudly, as were Morgana and Freya.

Kanen came and stood between Arthur and Mordred.  
"Now Morgana, you've got one hell of a choice to make here, so we'll go to your fellow coaches. Freya?"

"Arthur," Freya began, "You had a shaky start but once the chorus came around, bloody hell I wish I could sing like that sometimes. You hit some notes that I couldn't. I would definitely take Arthur through on this one."

Gaius was next. "Mordred, you are an incredibly emotional singer. I couldn't make this decision, definitely, but had you kept your voice under control you would have been put through if this was my call."

"Both of you were good. Arthur, you clearly showed that you can work in this industry and go multi-genre. I would take you through." said Lance.

Kanen clapped. "Well before we go to Morgana let's give these two a round of applause. Now, Morgana."

Morgana cleared her throat. "You are both excellent singers clearly. I spoke with you all about limiting you're vocal gymnastics so that something like what Mordred did wouldn't happen tonight. I'm hoping that my team are all listening when I say this. But Mordred gave more emotion through the song than Arthur did."

She paused, collecting her thoughts. Arthur could feel his heart beat in his throat.

"That said there is a winner in this battle, someone who displayed great skill, and managed to bring it back from a mistake. That person, despite the shaky start, is Arthur."

His jaw dropped as Kanen lifted his arm. Mordred pulled him into a hug and then Arthur was off, hugging Morgana, repeatedly giving her his thanks. "Of course it was you." She told him "You nailed it."

The producers then signalled Arthur to head towards them and to stand and watch Mordred on stage.

"Now coaches, please remember Mordred is up for a steal. You all have your two steals at the ready." The chairs turned in unison, except for Morgana's.

"Now Arthur." said one of the producers. "Whisper Steal at the stage for the camera".

Arthur complied, watching as the lights closed in until...

Gaius' chair spun around, as the lights went crazy. "Mordred, you are now on Team Gaius. Go see your new coach."

Arthur clapped frantically, mostly for the cameras, but he was glad to see that Mordred was still through.

Arthur and Mordred were then shown to seats in the audience as the next battles commenced. Both were also given sheets with instructions on for the knockouts.

Gaius then had one of his battles, A woman named Catrina against a rather scruffy man called Halig. The two sang _Babushka_ by Kate Bush, and Catrina wiped the floor with Halig, who was not stolen.

Then came Lance's battle of a guy called Percival against another guy called Gwaine. During the performance, Leon came over and sat next to Arthur, and the two began to chat once the performance was over. Gwaine and Leon had been singing _Imagine_ by John Lennon and it had been a good performance. Percival was however victorious and Gwaine was instantly stolen by Morgana.

The next battle was Morgause against  the Powderpuff trio, who had dolled up Lolita style for the occasion. After a smashing rendition of _Hips Don't Lie_ in which halfway through Morgause unexpectedly began singing her verses in perfect Spanish, Powderpuff were sent home with Morgause receiving unanimous praise for her performance.

The rest of the performances of the night (a whole twenty-four performances) were rather typical, the only stand-outs being a couple of guys, Monatgue and Edric, and a opera singer called Elena, as well as another Team Morgana performance./p>

Leon was up against a singer Arthur had not seen before, a rather Hipster looking guy apparently called Ed. The two were dueting _Ship to Wreck_ by Florence and the Machine and absolutely brought the house down. In the end though, Leon was kept in whilst Ed was not stolen.

The final of the battle of the night was called in Elena's favour, and she was busy hugging Freya her coach. Leon tapped Arthur on the shoulder.

"Are you gonna be coming tomorrow night to watch the other battles?" he asked.

"Probably. Merlin and Gwen will be performing and I'd like to be there to congratulate them if they win."

"Ah Okay." replied Leon. The two had started talking on the second day of rehearsals for the battles and, along with Gwen, Merlin and Morgause, Arthur considered Leon one of his friends on the show.

"Want to go out and get some drinks." Arthur asked him.

"Yeah sure."

"Not without me." a voice from behind them said. Morgana strutted into view, "I need to talk strategy with you Arthur, and if you want Leon I can give you some feedback."

"Oh my god if it's not any trouble." Leon said excitedly.

The three of them headed for one of the nearby pubs, where they sat with drinks and chatted for a while.

"So, Leon, Arthur, what do you think you'll sing at the Knockouts?".

While Leon umm-ed and ahh-ed, Arthur spoke up. "You have to wait for rehearsal with me, but I have a good idea."

"I look forward to it."

Morgana and Leon then entered a deep conversation about whether singing Sanna Nielson or Taylor Swift would be better. Arthur checked his phone for emails, finding one from his father.

_Tell her she has my permission to tell you, and that she should contact me when I'm back in the U.K._

Arthur waited until Leon, who had drunk a little bit too much, headed to use the toilets to show Morgana the email. She took a breath on reading it, and then began.

"I'm your half sister." she said plainly. "Blunt confession, I know, but to the point."

"You what?"

"I had no way of contacting Uther, he's such a recluse in the industry now, but I only recently discovered it. You're mother was my mother, though that was before he married her. So, yeah, we're related."

"Oh. You knew when I auditioned then?"

"Not until you told me your name." she said. "You got through on talent, both times, I promise. I'm not playing favourites. Well, I put Morgause up against the Powderpuff girls because I knew she'd slay them."

She looked down at her watch. "Early start in the morning, so I'd better head off. I'd recommend you do the same."

Arthur waited for Leon to get back, processing the information of his new sister as he did. Maybe it was the alcohol, but the shock didn't really get to him.

Once Leon was back, Arthur took him to the bus. "I'm not too drunk so I'll get you to your room." He had told Leon.

They ended up at a slightly pricier hotel than where Arthur was staying. He tried not to be envious at the lack of mould on the shower curtain in the bathroom when he went for a piss. Arthur did have some money, but his parents had been strict. Both had come from nowhere to the top, and they weren't going to give Arthur an easy way up. Once he had hit 18, he had to pay for most things himself, and as such he wasn't particularly well off.

Once he'd finished peeing, he zipped up his trousers and, at Leon's request, stayed for a cup of coffee.

"I should be off." he said, finishing the cup.

"You know Arthur, " Leon said, "You could just stay."

Leon leaned in and kissed Arthur, which took him by surprise. What was more surprising was that Arthur started to kiss back, and fiercely. He had only ever been with another guy once in uni, at the time which he'd figured he was bisexual, but he had only known Leon well for a couple of days.

The two wrestled and fell onto the large bed together. Leon pushed his hands up Arthurs shirt and chucked when he felt the muscles underneath. Arthur ran his hands over Leon's back, down, down until he cupped Leon's perfect butt. Reaching up, he pulled Leon's shirt over his head, and started to kiss along Leon's neck, warranting a groan from the other party.

Arthurs shirt and jeans soon found their way off, as did Leon's shorts, and then Leon was crouched over Arthurs hard groin kissing his way down Arthurs chest, down Arthurs happy trail until he had his mouth over Arthur's manhood. Arthur moaned as Leon pulled back the plain white boxers and took Arthur in his mouth. He ran his hands through Leon's thick hair, groaning as he did so. Leon moved down, still with Arthur in his mouth slowly inserted a finger into Arthurs ass, eliciting more groans. A second, then third finger were added, until Leon deemed Arthur ready. They then swapped positions; Arthur using his mouth to lube up Leon, until Arthur lay down on his back and Leon pushed in to him, meeting his mouth with a kiss as he did so.

It was a miracle they got as far as they did, with Leon in his drunken state. He was actually pretty good drunk, so would be better sober as he pushed into Arthur who met him with each thrust.

The drawback of the drink however was that the experience didn't last particularly long, Leon pulling out of Arthur, whipping the condom off and finishing on his chest. He did however then return his mouth to Arthur until he too came with a final moan.

They both slept soundly together in Leon's bed that night, though Arthur couldn't shake some feeling of guilt.


	3. The Battles - Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin and Gwen face their battle, Arthur gets put into an awkward situation and Morgana makes a bad decision.

Arthur work that morning feeling honestly pretty shitty. The room was quite bright, so it must be early in the morning, and it hurt his eyes due to the slightest of slight hangover he still had from the previous night.

 _Did I really drink that much?_ he asked himself wearily, before realising he wasn't alone in the bed. A mess of hair, the soft sound of breathing, the warmth of a leg between his, everything pointed towards Leon.

Carefully, he edged back a bit. Yep. That was Leon, and they were naked.

_Fucking hell_

Everything came rushing back to him - Morgana's confession, Leon's drunkenness, the sex, everything.

_Well he was quite a good shag_

Arthur rubbed his eyes, not needing his subconsciousness getting the better of him. He slowly tried to remove Leon's leg from between his. They had to be at the studio by 10:00 for their meeting with Morgana about the knockout song. Succeeding in his task, Arthur slipped out of bed and pulled on some boxers from the ground. That was when he saw the clock.

"Leon." he said. "Leon!" again, increasily louder.

"What is it." came the voice of a groggy and sleepy Leon.

"It's nine-thirty."

"And...?"

"We have to be in the studio in thirty minutes." Arthur let the sentence sink in for a second, and not a moment later Leon was up and running into the shower. "Hey I need to shower too!"

"Then come in. It's not like I haven't seen your cock dude."

_He had a point_

The two stood under the hot water, hurriedly washing their hair. The second all the shampoo was washed out, the shower was off and they both stood there hurriedly drying themselves with towels.

Clothes on, the two raced out of the hotel. Luckily the studio was only a five minute walk, but they both made it in just in time. Morgana eyed them both knowingly as they came in. Only the people who has succeeded in their battles, so just Leon, Morgause, Arthur and Gwaine who was stolen, were there.

"So I've spoken with the producers and whilst the Battle rounds aren't finished yet, we're going to start filming you're knockout rehearsal shots right now. I hope you know what song you're doing. Does anyone, so the others can have time to think if they need to?"

Morgause put her arm up.

"Great Morgause. We'll go into my studio room then and get talking. The rest of you, if you could stay around here so I can come grab you. We'll need to film the chatting scene later once the full team line-up is known." And with that, the two disappeared through the doors.

"Hot Chocolate?" Leon asked Arthur, tiredly.

"Uh, Sure." he looked over to Gwaine - having someone else there would ease the tension a bit - "Gwaine, you coming."

Gwaine nodded and the three headed into the adjacent café. They sat there for ten minutes, discussing what song they'd pick until Morgana came out, grabbed Leon by the ears and dragged Leon out, replacing him with Morgause.

"What are you singing?" Gwaine asked her.

" _On my Mind_ by Ellie Goulding. I told her initially and her face dropped, probably with concern, but I think my performance convinced her." Morgause told us. "What have you guys picked?"

"Leon who just got dragged off picked _Born To Die_ by Lana Del Rey. Not sure why, but he seemed to like it." Arthur replied. "Still thinking about what to do."

"I'm gonna do _All Good Things_ by  Nelly Furtado. Didn't actually think of it till Morgana told me that I should probably do it."

"Huh, I can see it fitting your voice. She did good stealing you, you're quite the artist."

"Why thank you."

The three of us chatted some more until Leon was sent back, and Gwaine went to see her.

"I'm quietly optimistic." Leon said, "she only really told me to adjust the tone some more because it can be quite flat, but other than that, I think I did good."

Morgause and Arthur raise their mugs in cheer, then Morgause downs hers. "Well, I'll see you boys tonight, gotta get some stuff done in town."

She leaves, meaning it's just the two of them, back with the tension.

"So..." Leon breaks the silence. "About last night..."

"What about it..." Arthur responds.

"I... I guess what I'd like to say is that I'd like to see you again sometime?"

Arthur pondered this. _He is attractive, and sweet, and a good shag_. "We'll see where it goes, how about that?"

Leon smiled. "Sounds good to me."

That had at least broken the tension, the only way out of which would have been Morgana. She did come grab him at some point. Leon promised he would wait for him while Arthur was in there.

Morgana took him into the studio where the band were. "Firstly, congratulations on your battle again. You nailed it, and I want you to bring that to the knockout so I don't have to say goodbye to you."

"I'll do my best. I promise."

"Okay, so what are you going to sing."

"Well..." he ponders, "I'm not really sure. I was hoping you may have a suggestion."

"Arthur, I can't suggest anything. This is your choice, though I would point you towards something we can make emotional, and something perhaps more unique if you can. It doesn't matter if it's classic or modern."

And that's when it hit him. " _Photograph_ , Ed Sheeran."

"Perfect. It should be clear sailing if you can get the emotion in." She walks off to the production crew, and a couple of minutes one returns with printouts of the music for the band and lyrics. "Okay Arthur, take it away."

A deep breath, the click of the sticks, and he begins.

 _Loving can hurt_  
_Loving can hurt something_  
 _But it's the only thing that I know_  
 _When it gets hard_  
 _You know it can get hard sometimes_  
 _It's the only thing that makes us feel alive_

 _We keep this love in a photograph_  
_We make these memories for ourselves_  
 _Where our eyes are never closing_  
 _Hearts are never broken_  
 _Times forever frozen still_

 _So you can keep me, inside the pocket of your ripped jeans_  
_Holdin' me closer till our eyes meet_  
 _You won't ever be alone_

 _And when I'm away_  
_I will remember how you kissed me_  
 _Under the lamppost back on sixth street_  
 _Hearin' you whisper through the phone_

 _Wait for me to come home_  
_Wait for me to come home_  
 _Wait for me to come home_

_Oh, wait for me to come home_

Morgana holds up her hand. "Right, let's slow it down a tad, bring it down a key or two in placesand try it again. We do this three times, each one including her making small alterations until it sounds like a completely different song, but still fantastic. "You picked a strong song, the emotions and the dynamics we've added have really given it that edge. The goal for you it to really make use of your range, because if you can do some falsetto it will come across very well. Now come on you, skedaddle, we've both got lots to be doing. I hope I'll see you at the battles tonight." Her eyes twinkled. "I know Merlin would really appreciate it if you came and supported him."

"Leon and I will be there." pretending not to hear Morgana's last comment.

"I'm glad to hear it. Team Morgana is gonna have a sense of camaraderie even if we crash out in the semi-final."

Arthur met Leon outside afterwards. The rehearsal and filming had taken up about three and a half hours, and the knockout filming was due to start at four. So he and Leon had some time to themselves, which they spent talking and going to lunch together. Arthur played Leon the song he had picked when Leon gave him a blank expression when he told him.

"It's certainly catchy."

"She recommended something with emotion and this is what I thought of. We've slowed it right down, changed some stuff, so it should sound really good for the knockouts - hopefully enough to pull me through. I'm surprised you didn't know it."

"All four of us who are already there are really good. I haven't heard Morgause but she slayed in the battle, Gwaine is fantastic, you're amazing and modesty aside, I reckon I'm quite good."

"You are really good. She has got other people up her sleeve. Gwen and Merlin from what I've heard are set to win their battle easily, and only four people from each team go through to the lives. So it will be tough."

"From what I've heard from some of the other guys, Lance's team is shaping up really well, as is Freya's. Not so sure about Gaius." Leon told him.

"He has Mordred, who as much as he creeps me out, is a competent and emotional vocalist." Arthur replied.

"True, but I guess we will see what remains of the competition after tonight."

"I guess we will."

The two of them made it back to the studio for ten-to-four, and were immediately directed by the crew to sit in part of the crowd. Arthur easily found Morgause and sat next to her, Leon following suit.

Fifteen minutes later, after a final lighting check, the presenters came on stage and started filming their lines and the coaches arrival. Morgana strode up with Freya first, both looking confident as they took their seats in their chairs.

"First Up" called Nimueh, "It's Team Morgana!"

The first duo was Cenred and another Lance. The winner was clear though as Cenred sailed through and Lancelot DuLac didn't save his namesake.

They were followed by a duel from Gaius which was just a complete disaster, then by a duel from Team Freya where the loser, a teenage girl by the name of Aithusa was stolen by Morgana. Team Lance followed them, pitching two more incredible singers against each other, one of which was stolen by Freya. It was then Team Morgana again.

"Now, It's the battle of the duets. Merlin and Gwen will be facing off against Elyan and Viv!" The audience cheered as both duets, Merlin and Gwen looking very nervous indeed, came on-stage. Nimueh spoke again. "Singing _Halo_ , it's Team Morgana."

The music began to come in and Viv took up the first lines.

_Remember those walls I built?  
Well Baby they're tumbling down_

Gwen took over, immediately giving more power and confidence in her voice than she showed on her face.

 _And they didn't even put up a fight,  
They didn't even make a sound_.

Merlin then joined in with Gwen

 _I found a way to let you in_  
_But I never really had a doubt_  
 _Standing in the light of your halo_  
 _I've got my angel now_

 _They sound good_ Arthur thought, though their voices weren't blending as well as he'd heard them. Elyan and Viv however, well Elyan was carrying the both of them.

 _It's like I've been awakened_  
_Every Rule I've had you breaking_  
 _It's the risk that I'm taking_  
 _I ain't never gonna shut you out_

Merlin and Elyan then started to sing the chorus together, while Gwen played the violin and Viv stood there, kind of awkwardly honestly, waiting for her next lines.

 _Everywhere I'm looking now_  
_I'm surrounded by your embrace_  
 _Baby I can see your halo_  
 _You know you're my saving grace_

The four then came in for the final part of the song.

 _You're everything I need and more_  
_It's written all over your face_  
 _Baby I can see your halo_  
 _Pray it won't fade away_

Each then took up the last line in turn, Merlin and Elyan first, followed by Viv then Gwen.

 _I can see your halo_  
_I can see your halo_  
 _I can see your halo_  
 _I can see your halo_

Arthur clapped his hands strongly. There was no way Merlin and Gwen could lose this duel, considering Viv sounded like a cat.

"Morgana!" Nimueh called. "A fantastic battle there. I'll give you a minute to collect your thoughts and we'll go to your fellow coaches. Freya?"

Freya, smiling, took the microphone. "I must say that, Gwen and Merlin, while you need to work on blending your voices that little bit more, you gave the stronger performance tonight, and if I were your coach you would be going through."

She passed the microphone onto Gaius. "I couldn't decide, you were both very good."

 _That's bull_ Arthur thought. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't hold Gaius too highly, and not just because Gaius didn't turn for him in the auditions.

"A fantastic performance from you both." Lance said. "It was a battle, but you still all worked together to bring out the best in each other."

It was then Morgana's turn.

"Both of you are fantastic as duets, though there are issues. Neither of you can perfectly blend the voices, though Viv and Elyan are slightly better at it. And whatever happens, I know that everything will be okay. So the winner is Viv and Elyan."

_WHAT!_

Merlin and Gwen both applaud, though clearly its hit Gwen quite hard from her face. Elyan and Viv are escorted off the stage whilst Kanen joined Merlin and Gwen onstage.

"Coaches, you still all have a steal left."

Before Kanen can finish, Freya slams her button down. A second later, Lance does too!

The cheering in the hall is immense as Freya and Lance eye each other and start laughing.

"Okay, Gwen, Merlin, you have two options - Team Freya or Team Lance. Which would you like to continue with?"

Merlin looks at Gwen, and she nods. "Thank you to you both, but we'd like to continue with Team Freya."

Amidst the ensuing applause, Freya runs up on stage and hugs them both tightly before taking them offstage.

"How on earth did Morgana pick Viv and Elyan?" Leon asks.

Morgause responds. "I think Morgana knew Freya would take them the whole time, and the rest of our team is strong enough as it is."

Arthur nods. "I see, I mean with us and Aithusa and Gwaine, she'd have a hard time picking her four for the lives. She still has Cenred and another battle to go still."

"Exactly."

None of the other battles of the night were particularly special, bar the rest of Team Lance and Team Freya. It's not long until, given time for the people who had just battled to change their clothes, all eight of Morgana's remaining acts are getting filmed for the pre-knockout chat.

She then takes in Aithusa, Cenred, Elyan and Viv and her other singer Eira into do their rehearsals. But before that, she warns us all that the knockouts are in a week and that the first episode of the blinds is playing tonight, so to start thinking about songs we can sing should we get through to the lives.

Arthur and Leon stop off for a bite to eat in a nearby diner with Morgause and Gwaine, who turns up minutes after Morgause texts him, so clearly someone has a crush. The four of us have sort of formed a group. It's entirely possible that one of us won't be in the competition in a week depending on how the knockouts go.

Aithusa comes in fifteen minutes later and we invite her to sit with us. She agrees, and sits down with us after getting a milkshake.

"So were you the first out?" Morgause asks her.

"No - Elyan and Viv were. There were in there for about ten minutes until they both stormed out. Clearly the song choice wasn't appreciated."

"There wasn't any actual shouting though?"

"I don't think so." she replies. "I know from talking to Elyan that Viv wanted to do _Sweet Dreams_ by Eurythmics, I'm guessing they were told to think again."

"It's a great song, so maybe there voices didn't fit well?"

"Probably." Gwaine shrugs, "Though nothing they've sung has really worked. God knows why Morgana kept them not Merlin and Gwen."

"It's like we said to Leon earlier." Morgause says. "Morgana has an amazing team already, I mean six or seven of us could easily make it to the lives, but she only gets four. Why make that harder?"

"That is true. Most of the teams are good this year, the lives are gonna be a bloodbath." Gwaine replies.

Aithusa heads home shortly after, so the remaining four head into the nearby pub for a final drink. They grab a table whilst Arthur heads to the bar to get four pints. After dropping the first two off at the table, he almost spills the next two bumping into someone.

"Merlin, Christ you scared me."

"Oh hey Arthur." Merlin says. "How're you doing?"

"I'm good, I'm good..." Arthur pauses. "How are you and Gwen?"

"Oh, we're fine. Bit disappointed to have lost to the two most talentless members of Team Morgana but we're in a stronger position in Team Freya anyway."

"Ah cool. Had your knockout meeting yet with her?"

"Yeah, though we haven't told anyone really what we're going to do. Keeping it a surprise hopefully will give us an edge."

"Well, Morgause, Leon and I are sitting over there. Why don't you come join us?"

Merlin finishes his half-pint. "I'd love to, but I'd better head off. Just gotta pay the bill." he says. Arthur waits with him till he pays the bill, which comes to about £20.

"Christ dude you sure drank it up."

"Yeah well, felt like it. You couldn't do me a huge favour could you?"

"Sure."

Merlin held out his phone. "I can't really text to well after all those pints, or half-pints really, can you find my Mum's number and text her the address so she can come pick me up?"

Arthur does so. "Do you want me to wait with you until she does."

Merlin nods, so Arthur tells the guys at the table he'll be back in a second and the two wait outside under the shelter from the rain.

"That'll be her now." Merlin says as a car turns into the road up ahead. With that, he turns to Arthur, reaches forwards and kisses him on the lips. It was in no way a particular good kiss, given Merlin's drunken state. Still, Arthur can realise, there's something else there.

Merlin steps back as the car draws closer. "Sorry, I just really wanted to do that." And then he's gone, getting into the car and being driven off. Arthur can't really figure out what just happened, but the rain is starting to blow into his face, so he retreats back into the pub with the others.

Later that night, when Arthur goes back with Leon to the hotel, he can't shake the feeling of guilt he had after he had first slept with him. He drinks some of the wine Leon offers him, and unsurprisingly they end up in bed.

But still, while they lie there, Leon asleep, Arthur can't stop thinking about what Merlin said, and whatever the hell he meant.

  _I just really wanted to do that_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happy to see that the feedback I've got from this across all sites has been quite good, so I hope you continue to enjoy!


	4. Knockout Week: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Arthur and Morgana have a rehearsal and chat, Drunk Merlin strikes again and Leon gets defensive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I apologise for the delay. Exam season is back, so my second year anniversary of starting writing is approaching and the workload has already piled up. I hope you enjoy this chapter. There will probably be one more before the night of knockout performances and then it's on to the live shows!
> 
> Also yes I am trying to catch the errors I'm making by accidentally writing in third person, which is proving surprisingly difficult for some reason. I apologise if you come across any, and if you wouldn't mind pointing them out I'd be ever grateful!

Arthur and Leon had only known each other for a couple of weeks by the time that knockout week had officially started and steadily they were getting more and more serious. Arthur wasn't sure how Leon felt about it, and even though they were spending more and more time together, something still didn't feel quite right to him. Against his better judgement, he decided to leave it and see how things went. It was nice to have someone to spend time with and to have someone he could get more physical with.

He'd given up on commuting in, instead splitting Leon's hotel bill with him. Provided the two of them got through knockout week, the Albion Broadcasting Company who owned the Voice of Albion would start funding the contestants in the liveshows for the accomodation as they would have to stay nearby.

The Lives were weeks away however, with only two weeks' worth of auditions of the six done, still with two battles and a bumper-knockout episode to go. Some of the other contestants had already gone home - Arthur had spoken to Catrina from Team Gaius, who had said that Gaius had sent his team home and would rehearse with them in the few days before the Knockouts.

All of the other coaches it seemed had taken a different approach. Or so Morgana told him. She'd met him at the Studio for the final check on music so the band could get practising and invited him over for Lunch at her place.

He happily went, as while the fact that she was his sister had begun to sink in, it was still very surreal that the woman he was talking to was in fact his sister. He waited outside whilst she finished the handover with the rest of her acts. She came out of the studio room, looking quite exhausted.

"You would not believe how awkward it is to get the music right. I stood there arguing with Viv and Elyan again over their choice and the music for ten whole minutes in these heels." she said, holding on to the wall and pulling her heels off.

Arthur nodded and followed her out into the car park. She pressed the keys, unlocking a white Maserati a few metres away. Arthur climbed into the spotless car which had unsurprisingly comfortable seats. Morgana got into the driver's seat, slammed the door and pulled off her sunglasses.

"Honestly, I should have put them up against someone else so I could have dropped them."

"Did you not think of just putting Merlin and Gwen through?" Arthur asked.

Morgana turned the key in the ignition and the car purred to life. "I did, but if you look at my knockout team already I'm going to have a hard enough time choosing four for the live shows. Merlin and Gwen will fare better with Freya." She shook her head. "I'm not supposed to be discussing this with anyone, especially a contestant anyway, but I can trust you. Or I hope so anyway."

Arthur smiled at her. "You can trust me. I am your brother after all."

"Oh that reminds me, should you get through to the lives, the producers want be to have you do a duet with your dad."

His heart sank. "He'll be thrilled."

"Well you said he was touring in the US right now, and that he'd be back for the final. It would probably benefit you, provided we could match you both to a song. I just hope the other contestants don't kick up a fuss, as celebrity duets don't usually happen until the second week of the lives, but this is a special case."

Morgana drove them out of the car park and through the city - most of it familiar for Arthur - until she took a turn and the lay of the land became more obscure. Soon enough, they were out of the main city and into a clearly rich area of the suburbs. Morgana asked Arthur more about himself, and then talked to him a bit more about herself and how she had figured out the connection between them. The final stretch of road took them out of the suburbs and to a house - though more realistically it was a manor - with a wall and a big gate. She pulled in here into a garage, and tapped a button on the car dashboard which closed the gate after them.

"Come on then." she beckoned, leading him out of the garage, through  a small section of the clearly large garden and into the main house.

Whilst it looked grand from the outside, the inside was quite modest. They passed a couple of rooms which Arthur looked into, including a not-so-modest library and a large music room, before they came to the spacious kitchen-come-dining room.

Morgana put the radio on then immediately set to work, taking things out of the fridge.

"Something with Pasta and Meat okay?"

"My favourite things." he replied.

"So there's more similar to us than meets the eye." she said, setting some water to boil. "And more than the musical influence." She pulls out some chicken from the fridge which has clearly been marinating and turns on the deep fat fryer. "How are you feeling about the knockouts?"

Arthur nods. "Pretty good actually. I think I know what I'm doing."

"I hope so." Morgana says. "Unlike one of my other colleagues, I will be rehearsing with you and the others all week coming up to the knockout. We're only obliged to do the initial meeting but I want you guys to bring your A game."

"Catrina said Gaius was sending them home."

"I don't know what he's thinking. His act's all bombed in the first live last year, bar the fast-passes. Both of them crashed out too, so I don't know why he's doing the bare minimum." She put the chicken in the fryer, which began to sizzle appetisingly. "I'm hoping to have reheasals most days with you all, and a group supper here the night before the big day."

"That's good of you."

"Well, I know some of my guys need it. I wasn't expecting to get Aithusa, and she's a bundle of nerves on stage, and I really want her to give a performance she can be proud of because that girl can do emotion as well as you can."

"And she's only, what, sixteen or seventeen."

"Exactly. It's looking hard though. I've got six acts who can realistically make it, and I have to pick four of them."

"I don't envy the decision."

"Who would you put through though, bar yourself."

Arthur pondered the question. "Morgause can really belt it out, she's fantastic as a vocalist. Gwaine has that real rawness to his voice, Aithusa is really emotional and Leon has good depth to his voice. I'd say they'd get through."

Arthur thought he heard Morgana mutter something about Arthur knowing about Leon's depth, but before he could comment on it Morgana spoke. "That would be a good team for the live shows definitely. Lance and Freya have their teams in their mind, and they are slightly more clear cut. It'll be a fight that's for sure."

When the food was ready, Morgana brought it over to the table in plates. It tasted delicious, and they both sat there in silence for a few minutes eating.

When he had finished, Arthur broke the silence. "That was amazing."

"Thank you." she replied. "I'm not just a pretty voice."

"That much was always clear."

"Stop it you." she teased. "I'll clear everything up later, how about we go through to the music room? We can go through some techniques on stretching your voice a bit, try and make it a bit easier to hit those falsetto notes we're going for."

They practised in the room for a couple of hours. Arthur had to drink quite a lot of water to keep his voice okay. They went through the whole song, Morgana playing it on the piano for him and giving him directions.

"Excellent." she said, when they had finished. "Now, no singing at all tomorrow and for the rest of today. We'll do the same thing a few days from now, to really try and solidify the practise we've put in."

"Thank you, I feel a lot better about the live show now."

"My pleasure brother." she smiled. "Just don't lose your voice for the knockouts, that'd be a disaster. So, if you want to come here for Lunch on Wednesday, that'll give you time to recover vocally for the final rehearsals on Friday before filming on Saturday."

Morgana dropped him back at the hotel, giving him a message for Leon to rehearse tomorrow with her. Arthur bid her farewell and went back to his and Leon's room. Leon had also left Arthur a message.

_Out at the pub by the studio with some of the others. Come over when you're back._

Arthur scribbled down Morgana's message on another piece of paper so he'd remember and took the short walk to the pub. Leon's inside with Morgause, Gwaine and Aithusa who's sipping a coca-cola.

"Leon." Arthur say as he approach them at the table. He passes him the note, which Leon reads and nods.

"Anyone want another drink?" Arthur asks, and Morgause slides out from the table and comes up to the bar with him.

"Morgana said you were rehearsing today?" she asks him as we wait for the barmaid to pour the two pints.

"Yeah. It was good actually."

"She's a fantastic coach I think, considering she's taking the additional time with us." Arthur picks up the two pints, but Morgause grabs his arm as he makes to return to the table. "Arthur, none of us have any problem with it but we've obviously noticed what's been going on with you and Leon."

He passes her the pint, sliding his arm from her grip. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asks, probably sounding harsher than he expected.

"Trust me, I don't want to offend you at all, but you've got to see." she looks over at the table. "The five of us who are contenders for the four places in the lives are at that table. Don't let Leon distract you."

 _As if he's the one in my thoughts most of the time_ Arthur shrugged. Merlin was no longer in his team so as part of the competition, he didn't have to worry about him and Gwen.

"I won't Morgause."

She smiles at me. "I just wanted to be sure. You both look good together, but this is a competition and the knockout is gonna be a bloodbath. And you're one of my boys, I look out for you."

The two of them begin to slowly weave their way through the growing crowd back to the table. "Did you say it to Leon too?" Arthur asks.

"Yeah."

"How'd he react?"

"Same as you pretty much."

They reached the table, at which point they both stopped talking about the topic. It was a good night all in all, and Arthur felt like he was really amongst friends. Even  Aithusa was beginning to open up to them a lot more and really integrating with them. At one point, members of Freya and Lances team began to crop up in the pub - Arthur spying Merlin and Gwen sitting with some others - one of whom must be Elena - at a table at the other end of the pub.

He didn't know too much about the opposing teams, or who was really a threat. Morgause had mentioned Elena from Team Freya, who Arthur had heard good things about. He didn't really remember her battle - there were so many - but now the numbers were slimming and he had a chance at the live shows he started to find out more and more about the other contestants.

Team Gaius was easily the weaker Team with its only real standout member being Mordred. Team Freya however had Gwen and Merlin, Elena - who had defeated Aithusa in the battles, and a girl called Sophia. In Team Lance, there were a couple of guys called Cerdan and Percival as well as Will, who Gwaine claimed was Lance's favourite on the team.

This was about as much as Arthur managed to document in his head from his group as progressively they got drunker and drunker - except for Aithusa - until the point where Leon ended up on Arthur's lap.

In his drunkenness, Arthur didn't look around the pub at all, focusing on the people he was with. And as such, he didn't notice Merlin eyeing him and Leon from the other side of the pub.

"Merlin, calm down." Gwen hissed at him, clearly aware of where they were.

"I am calm Gwen." he replied, voice very steady.

"They're just drunk." she said, which was obviously true by the amount of empty glasses across their table.

This was not good. It had taken a while to get Merlin to calm down after meeting Arthur in the queue at the auditions. She hadn't expected Merlin, who was usually reserved when it came to relationships, to take such a sudden romantic interest in Arthur. They were both fans of the music he'd released before they'd met him, but this had taken another level.

What was more concerning though, was that while Gwen had paused to sip at her vodka and coke, Merlin had left the table and disappeared into the throng of people.

She didn't even bother to whisper. "Oh shit."

Arthur didn't even see Merlin storm past to the pub bathroom as he stood at the bar, trying to convince the barman that they weren't all that drunk. In the end, his powers of persuasion and charm didn't translate too well with the high alcohol level in his blood and he was sent packing back to the table.

"Where's Gwaine?" Arthur said, stumbling slightly on his words, when he got back to the table.

"In the toilets." replied Aithusa.

"Dammit, he's the most sober of us and we need him to get us drinks." And with that, Arthur made his way to go get Gwaine from the toilet.

The toilets in the pub were the standard for pub toilets. Arthur pushed the door open and winced slightly at the smell. He needed to piss anyway, so he made his way into one of the two cubicles and began to piss. Zipping up, he opened the door of the stall.

Merlin was pressed up against the wall, lips locked against Gwaines, the two cluched together in a tight embrace.

 _Awkward_. "Oh. Sorry." Arthur said. Merlin shot Arthur some side eye as he headed for the door. _What the hell? But Gwaine was into Morgause! None of this make sense_! thought Arthur as he came back into the pub.

He sat back down at the table and Morgause raised her eyebrows. "Seen something bad in the men's? Where's Gwaine?"

"Um" Arthur half spoke half stuttered, "He's in there right now. I left him making out with Merlin against a wall."

Morgause sat back. "Oh. Right." She glanced at Aithusa and Leon, then her watch. "How about we call it a night?"

"Probably a good shout." Leon said. "Aithusa, do you want us to walk you back? It's quite late."

"That'd be great thanks."

The four of us left the pub. Aithusa's house was only a ten minute walk, and for the most part it was awkwardly quiet. They waited outside until her Dad opened the door, and he thanked the three of them and invited them in for a drink, to which they said they couldn't hang around.

Leon and Arthur then walked Morgause to her car and she offered to drop them back at the hotel, so Leon got in the back of the car and Arthur got into the front.

"So, Gwaine and Merlin huh?" Morgause asked to nobody in particular.

Leon spoke first. "I didn't realise either of them liked guys."

"Me neither." Arthur then said. "I honestly thought Gwaine liked you Morgause."

"So did I. Though I knew about Merlin." she said.

"How?" Leon and Arthur both asked.

She grinned. "He would talk about Arthur most of the time and not about his music."

"Me?" Arthur asked. Merlin had never given him any indication of wanting it to go further, well other than the kiss but Merlin had been very drunk. He had said that he really wanted to do that. Had he meant more than in the moment?

"Well tough, Arthur said yes to me first." said Leon defensively.

"It's not us you have to say that to." Morgause replies, pulling over by the hotel. "See you guys later."

"Thanks for the lift." Arthur replied, getting out and walking with Leon into the hotel. The two got into an empty lift and Leon pressed the button for their floor quite hardly.

"Leon chill."

"I'm sorry Arthur; this has all just... just stressed me."

Arthur gives him a kiss. "Well it's fine, you are my boyfriend not him, so don't worry about it."

He puts his arm over Arthur's shoulder and pulls him in close. "I know, but what the hell is he acting at? Literally everyone knows Gwaine and Morgause are made for each other, and that you and I are together."

"Leon it's not his fault he likes me. And if Gwaine's getting with Merlin then that's Gwaine's decision."

"I'm sorry. I just get jealous sometimes." he says as the lift reaches their floor. Arthur takes Leon's hand.

"Come on, let's go forget all about it."

To Arthur however, everything is beginning to add up, even though it's still confusing. Merlin giving him side-eye whilst with Gwaine was Merlin trying to make him jealous. Arthur realised this in the morning whilst he was nursing his hangover. Still, much didn't make sense.

Arthur spoke to the empty room - Leon having gone for his rehearsal with Morgana. "I'm just gonna have to talk to him." He found Merlin's number in his phone, which he had got from them after the battles, and sent him a text.

Now all Arthur could do was wait.


	5. Knockout Week: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin ignores Arthur, the group spend a lot of time in the pub, and final rehearsals for Knockout Day occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A somewhat shorter chapter now, though the next one will definitely be longer. I hope you like, and if there are any slip ups in terms of sudden 1st person I sincerely apologise and am trying to rectify it.

Merlin maintained Radio-Silence to Arthur for the next few days. Arthur didn't even see him until Thursday, two days before the Knockouts were being filmed and even then Merlin staunchly ignored him.

Gwaine however was easier to track down, since he and Morgause stuck together most of the time and, as had become habit, the whole group usually met up in the pub near the studio every few nights. But he wasn't there, sitting with Morgause at their usual table on Thursday night when Arthur and Leon came into the pub. Aithusa wasn't there either - her parents didn't like her going out too much she had said when they all met up last night - but oddly enough Gwen was sitting there with her along with another guy.

As Arthur pulled himself up a chair, the unknown guy introduced himself as Will and was from Team Lance. According to what Morgause had previously told him, he was Lance's favourite and a shoe-in for the Live shows.

The silence at the table after that was somewhat awkward, until Leon broke it by announcing that he was going to get himself and Arthur a drink. As soon as Leon was out of earshot, Gwen leaned forward, facing Arthur.

"I think we need to talk about Merlin." she said.

"I'm inclined to agree with you." he told her, "I've been trying to speak to him too for the past few days and I get completely ignored by him."

She took a breath. "Arthur I shouldn't be the one telling you, but Merlin really likes you."

"Then what is he doing sleeping with Gwaine?" Morgause interjects,

"Jealousy." Will says. "Merlin's always been like that." When Arthur gives Will a confused look, Will elaborates. "I've known Merlin since I was about three hours old. We even dated at one point, and even if Merlin wasn't dating you, he doesn't like to share. Well, he doesn't share his guys anyway."

"Neither do I but Leon asked me out and I said yes, it's not my fault if that's tough for him to handle." Arthur replies, "I mean I have no idea how I feel about Merlin but he can't expect me to drop Leon and come running to him."

"I know Arthur." says Gwen, "but Merlin doesn't really get out much, he's not very good at this sort of thing and he does really like you."

"Then why won't he talk to me?"

"Clearly seeing you with Leon hurt him, though that is in no way your fault, just give him some time and he'll get over it." he says, partially to Arthur and partially to Gwen, who now Arthur thinks about it must have been the driving force behind this intervention.

Leon brings Arthur a pint of lager and sits back down with them. In order to break the silence, Morgause starts asking Will and Gwen about what song choices they're doing for the lives. Gwen remains tight-lipped, stating that it's still going to be a surprise and hopefully a good one.

"Well originally I wanted to do one of Lance's songs, though he told me to save it for the Lives." Arthur noted the lack of 'if' in the prospect of getting to the live shows. "So I'm doing Kate Bush, _Running Up That Hill_ for the Knockout." He sings a bit to them:

 _It doesn't hurt me_  
_Do you want to feel how it feels?_  
_Do you want to know, know that it doesn't hurt me?_  
_Do you want to hear about the deal that I'm making?_  
_You, It's you and me._

His voice is somewhat subtle, though that may be because he's trying not to be too loud, but his enunciation is crystal clear, his tone soft and melodious, not at all unlike John Legend. It's clear to Arthur why he is one of Lance's favourites, and is definitely suited to classics.

Will then goes the table, asking what songs each person is planning on singing. Morgause goes first, quietly but powerfully singing a few lines of _On my mind_ , each pitch perfect. Leon then sings some of _Born to Die_ which sounded nothing like the original but still good. Arthur took his turn singing the chorus of _Photograph_ which Will seemed impressed by.

"So Morgause, where is Gwaine tonight?" Leon asks her.

Morgause shrugs but Will answers. "He was here a while ago, bolted off with Merlin about twenty minutes before you guys arrived."

Leon raised his eyebrows. "Well at least he's getting over my man." he says, laughing and throwing his arm around Arthurs shoulder.

They all stay for a couple more drinks and then start to funnel out of the pub. Arthur and Will both stay behind to use the toilet, and as they're leaving the pub bump into Merlin storming through the entrance.

"Merlin, Hey!" Arthur says, trying to grab Merlin's shoulder. Merlin ignores him, disappearing into the crowd by the bar. "What is his beef?" he asks to Will.

"Love is cruel." is all he responds with. Outside the pub, Morgause, Gwen and Will go in one direction whilst Arthur and Leon take the short walk back to the hotel.

The next morning, Arthur leaves Leon in bed and heads for his final rehearsal with Morgana. He did have one on Wednesday where they tweaked the song a bit more and worked on stretching his voice out.

This rehearsal was different however. He was directed into the main studio room which had been completely changed since the battles. A large square LED floor now stood at one side, with the band behind it. To either side, platforms jutted out of the LED floor where the other contestants would stand. The four chairs sat with their buttons facing the floor, with the whole expanse of the audience behind them.

Morgana stood at the back with the band, talking with the acoustic guitarist over sheet music. In one of the other chairs sat Freya, hair drawn up into a tight ponytail texting on her phone. When she heard Arthur approach, she looked up and got down to hug him.

"Hey! Don't be freaked out, Morgana invited me to give feedback on her acts final rehearsal. I'll just be sitting in the chair and maybe giving feedback." she smiled at him.

Morgana came over to them her heels clicking on the floor. "Hey Arthur." she hugged him. "Okay, important stuff to remember for tomorrow. You will be reminded, but it's a lot easier if you can get it all straight now. You are performing last, so will be standing in eighth position in the line, so all the way to the right." she indicates with her hand. "Now, we've got a violin stand as well as the microphone stand for you, and even though we only have thirty minutes with you now, we want to try and put together some basic stage show."

Arthur gets up on stage and removes his violin from it's case.

"Now," Morgana began, "I was thinking we start off with the guitar you start after the first few bars."

The band's drummer slapped his sticks together four times, and Arthur waited whist the guitar played him in. He began to sing, and as soon as he got to the section where he repeated the 'Wait for me to come home', Morgana made frantic violin gestures. He immediately picked it up and began to play, singing at the same time.

When he had finished, Freya applauded him. "It's amazing, the violin didn't hamper his singing at all, he really hit those last high notes." she said. Morgana nodded at her. "Though he has some really raw emotional moments before that, I'd get him moving around a bit."

They repeated the process three more times, coming up with a solid routine of movement, camera shots with the producers and a little bit of vocal tweaking. In the end, he got the impression Morgana was happy.

"You're welcome to stay, seeing as you'd need to be back here in, oh" she checked her watch, "three and a half hours anyway for organising the queue."

"Sure." he replied, grabbing a coffee from the machine outside. When he came back in, it was clearly Morgause's turn for Rehearsal. She was up on stage with Morgana, so Arthur made to sit down in an audience seat. However, Freya beckoned him over so he sat down on one of the coaches seats next to her.

"You were really great." she said. "Shame you couldn't have been on my team, you'd have fitted right in." Arthur wasn't sure how to respond, so he just said thanks and asked her about her team.  "Oh they're a great bunch. Only kind of sure who I'm going to take through, though obviously that's a secret." she said.

"I was very glad you stole Gwen and Merlin, I think they're both really great." Arthur responded.

"Oh yeah, I couldn't see why Morgana took that other duet through. Between you and me the girl sounded like a screeching cat but hey, it'll give Gwen and Merlin a better shot at the lives if you and Morgause are a reflection of Morgana's team.

Morgause began to sing, so Arthur and Freya stopped talking and listened.  She was certainly going for it more than in the pub, hitting notes Arthur didn't even know were that high and doing it all in her stride. She ended the whole performance with a whistle-note about five seconds long.

Arthur pressed his button once she had done and the chair turning sound played. Morgause began to laugh and gave him a small curtsey. "Sorry Morgana I'm clearly on Team Arthur now."

Morgana and Freya then began to direct Morgause on the stage show, which took a good fifteen minutes in total. Once Morgause had perfected her minimalist yet effective stage show complete with some stroking lights, she came and joined Arthur and Freya in the Judge's chairs.

The next of the Rehearsals was Elyan and Viv and it was a right disaster. They had very little stage presence, Elyan forgot his lyrics and Viv's voice cracked on her high note so she missed it completely. In the end, neither hung around, telling Morgana they'd be back at the studio when they needed to be.

Gwaine came next and was stellar, really delivering a raw performance. Then came Aithusa with an emotional performance. Leon came last and over-ran on his time with Morgana trying to perfect the performance. A producer had to hurry them on.

Morgana called them all forward, including Elyan and Viv who arrived barely in time. "Right, I gave you all a position, can you please take that on the stage, with first being left and last being right."

Arthur took his place with the others. Morgana spoke with Freya a moment, before swapping Morgause and Aithusa over. The final running order came to: Morgause, Cenred, Aithusa, Leon, Eira, Gwaine, Elyan and Viv then Arthur.

At least Arthur would stand out after the likely train wreck of Elyan and Viv, if that meant anything of course. It wasn't surprising after Morgauses rehearsal that she was opening, as Freya has told her that Morgana's knockout was first followed by hers, then Gaius and lastly Lance.

One of the producers then came and spoke to the nine of them, informing them of the time to be at the studio the following morning and to dress up for it. They were then left to disperse as they wished. All of them, bar Elyan and Viv, walked the short walk to the pub and had a drink together.

"So, Arthur, you saw everyone," Morgause asks, "Who do you rate highly? I won't ask why Elyan and Viv aren't on the list."

"Everyone was really good, it's gonna be a tough fight that's for sure." he replied. "Lucky you though, get to open the whole show."

"And you get to close it." Eira said, "everything you do is gonna be freshest in Morgana's memory."

"A curse or a blessing though." Gwaine says, "Arthur, try not to make any mistakes mate."

Gwaine joined Arthur going to get more drinks for the table. "Arthur, hey, I wanted to talk to you about Merlin."

Arthur sighed. Why did everyone want to talk to him about Merlin all the time? "Yeah, what is it?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know about you and him, he just kind of jumped me, and I mean I wasn't gonna say no..."

"There's nothing between me and him." Arthur told him, "Did he say there was?"

"It was his reason for telling me that he didn't want to see me anymore."

"Oh."

"It was fine, I'm not hung up on it. You wouldn't happen to know if Morgause is interested would you?"

Arthur patted Gwaine on the shoulder. "She talks about you loads so I'd say so, though maybe wait until after the Knockouts."

"To see if she's still there? Of course she will be, the three of us are definitely going through tomorrow. The fourth place is hard to call, though it'll be Aithusa, Leon or Eira maybe. Freya was really taken with Eira."

"She deserves to do well, though I don't think any of the places are easy to call. Everything's done on the night, one slip up and that's it."

"Fair point, though it's not too common."

"But it happens."

"I think that's what's getting to Merlin." Gwaine says quietly.

"What?"asks Arthur.

"The competition. I mean he and I didn't spend much time together, but at one point he was in the shower and he left his messages open on his phone. I didn't want to look honestly but I could see that he was talking to his mum about how much it was taking its toll on him."

Arthur was confused. "But he and Gwen have essentially sailed through and everyone knows they're favourites to go through to the lives. Even if he lost his battle, we all pretty much know it was a set up."

"Yeah, but he works hard. And I mean hard. He's practising every day, and when he's not singing his lyrics he's going through it on his guitar or he's here. It's probably a lot of pressure. You know him and Gwen are essentially a two-piece Indie band. They've even released an EP which just about charted."

"Shit, really? Under what, Gwen and Merlin?"

"Gwen didn't actually say what they were called, though you can probably find them on iTunes with their names."

Arthur made a mental note to do that when he got back to the hotel. He and Gwaine brought the drinks back to the table and as a group they continued to chat. This was Arthurs chance to learn a bit more about Eira and Cenred, neither of whom hung out with them in the pub on a regular basis, though this could be the last time they do so.

Knockout filming started fairly early in the morning, so the group didn't stay too long. That night, he found Merlin and Gwen on iTunes under the name _Warlock Maiden_. Gwaine was right, they did have an EP which had received fairly good reviews. So as not to wake Leon, Arthur played the tracks with his headphones in. Again, Gwaine was right, because they were definitely Indie.

Once the EP, all four tracks of it, had finished playing, Arthur snuggled back down and shut his eyes trying to go to sleep. He couldn't shake the nerves though, but slept a dreamless sleep for tomorrow he would fight for his place in the competition.


	6. The Knockouts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Arthur, Leon, Gwaine, Gwen and Merlin fight for their place in the competition, one of the coaches makes a surprising decision and singing happens - a lot of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lot's of singing spaced out with somewhat awkward one line comments on reactions in this chapter. I did promise a long chapter and this is a very long one for you - I might try and make them all this long. Let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy, reviews and kudos are always appreciated, and have an awesome day you awesome people!

It was the morning of Knockout Day. Each team of eight would be reduced to a Team of four, leaving sixteen artists in the competition. It was going to be a brutal fight for some of the members of the stronger teams, while weak artists would sail through on the weaker teams. The sixteen artists next challenge would be the four live shows, where any four artists, regardless of team, would be voted off each week.

All of this was of course running through Arthurs head as he stood in the Studio at eight am that morning. He felt incredibly tired despite nine hours of sleep, and was in the process of having his make-up artist remove all signs of stress to make his skin flawless. All of the other contestants were in the chairs or getting suited up at the wardrobe.

The wardrobe had been Arthur's first stop too, where all they'd done is change out his shirt and replace his denim jacket with a Red leather one. It did indeed look better than what he was wearing before, though he found the excessive makeup unnecessary. He had even had a hair stylist on him at one point removing the bed-head and leaving him looking 'quite sharp' as Leon had described him when he walked past on his way to wardrobe.

The room was rather quiet except for the chatter of the queue and the stylists to one another. Clearly everyone was trying to calm any nerves they might have.

 _Team Morgana is opening, and Morgause is opening our knockout, so her stress must be higher than any of ours_ Arthur thought, looking around the room for her. Sure enough she was sitting on a cushion in the corner incredibly still, silently meditating.

When the call came for Team Morgana to come up, Arthur joined the queue and headed to where backstage joined the main hall. He could hear Nimueh and Kanen talking to the coaches about any advice that they might have for their contestants.

A couple more minutes passed in dead silence while the crowd cheered in the hall, then, Arthur heard Nimueh call out.

"Kicking us off tonight, it's Team Morgana."

The crewman with them started frantically indicating that they were to go out, clearly trying to get as much filming as possible done in one take. The queue shuffled out and walked up on to the main stage, each person silently finding their ordered place. This was easy for Arthur, as he was on the very right. Morgana had also described the handover process as like a Relay, with the singer starting on one side of the stage and moving over to the other, handing the microphone over to the next person when they had finished their performance.

Nimueh disappeared into the crowd leaving Kanen to present for their team. "First up for Team Morgana, it's Morgause!" he said emphatically as the crowd cheered loudly. Arthur along with Cenred, Leon and Gwaine headed for one side.

Morgause took a deep breath, and then the drummer brought her in for four with his sticks.

_Oooooh  
Oh, It's a little blurry how the whole thing started_

Morgause had only just started but immediately parts of the crowd were on their feet.

 _I don't even really know what you intended_  
_Thought that you were cute and you could make me jealous_  
_poured it down, so I poured it down._

The song was different than Arthur remembered; Morgana and Morgause had clearly stripped it back to let her voice shine through. And already it was working wonders, with Morgana on her feet avidly clapping along.

_And now I don't understand it_  
_you don't mess with love, you mess with the truth_  
_and I know I shouldn't say it_  
_But my heart don't understand_

_Why I got you on my mind_  
_why I got you on my mind_  
_why I got you on my mind_

Morgause let the last note hold as the band went into crescendo behind her, the music swelling as her voice held. She repeated the line a few more times; little vocal flourishes and acrobatics ending each sentence.

 _Why I got you on my mind_  
_but my Heart don't understand_  
_why I got you on my mind_

The final note she brought her voice up and up, through falsetto and let out the most controlled whistle note Arthur thought he had ever heard. He gulped, knowing a camera was on his face, and looked at the judges. All four, even Gaius, were on their feet cheering as Morgause brought the whole thing to a close.

 _There is no way she's not making it through_ Arthur thought, _Gwaine was definitely right_.

Morgause then came over to Arthur's side of the stage, passing Cenred the microphone and standing behind Arthur. He pulled her into a hug, and whispered to her. "You were absolutely bloody amazing."

She blushed, whispered a thank you, then the two stood back to attention, watching Cenred take to the stage. He delivered a rather surprisingly fantastic rendition of _Budapest_ by George Ezra, though it didn't have the same the effect on the judges or the crowd after Morgause.

 _Maybe that's why she's positioned us this way._ Arthur thought, _apart from Aithusa being before Leon, all of who Gwaine suggested as the likely ones to get through are not next to each other_.

Aithusa came after Cenred. She looked incredibly nervous on the stage. Kanen introduced her. "Next up, one of Morgana's steals, it's Aithusa!"

_All around me are familiar faces_  
_Worn out places, worn out faces_  
_Bright and early for their daily races_  
_Going nowhere, Going nowhere_

If the crowd had got behind Morgause then that was nothing to what they were doing right now. Aithusa must have noticed the cheering, and she began to smile, the shakes in her voice lessening.

 _The tears are filling up their glasses_  
_No expression, No expression_  
_Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow_  
_No tomorrow, No tomorrow_

Like with Morgause, the band's music was beginning to swell behind Aithusa. Morgana looked like she was going to start crying, and Arthur too felt quite emotional. Aithusa as a singer was heard to describe, but once she opened her mouth, the tone of her voice brought a cloud of emotion raining down on you.

 _And I find it kind of funny_  
_I find it kind of sad_  
_The dreams in which dying_  
_Are the best I've ever hard_  
_I find it hard to tell you_  
_I find it hard to take_  
_Because when people run in circles_  
_It's a very, very_

_Mad World_

Morgana was actually tearing up at this point, Arthur noticed. Clearly the cameras also noticed as one of the crew went in for a close up. Once Aithusa had stopped, the crowd erupted into raucous cheering, again with all four coaches on their feet applauding.

"Next up for Team Morgana, it's Leon!"

Leon took to the stage as Aithusa came to stand with Arthur and Morgause, both of whom gave her a big hug and whispered congratulations to her.

It was then Leon's turn, and the drummer brought him in.

 _Feet don't fail me now_  
_Take me to the finish line_  
_All my heart, it breaks_  
_Every step that I take_  
_But I'm hoping that the gates,_  
_They'll tell me that you're mine_  
_Walking through the city streets_  
_Is it by mistake or design?_  
_I feel so alone on a Friday night_  
_Can you make it feel like home, if I tell you you're mine_  
_It's like I told you honey_

Leon's tone perfectly matches the song, though he is not a typical countertenor. Each line ends in a small inflection in pitch which is really quite effective.  
  
_Don't make me sad, don't make me cry_  
_Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough_  
_I don't know why_  
_Keep making me laugh,_  
_Let's go get high_  
_The road is long, we carry on_  
_Try to have fun in the meantime_

The only backing Leon has is a drummer for the chorus and violinist, making the performance quite intimate. From where Arthur is standing, Morgana clearly loves it.  
  
_Come and take a walk on the wild side_  
_Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain_  
_You like your girls insane_  
_Choose your last words_  
_This is the last time_  
_Cause you and I, we were born to die_

Leon receives a large amount of applause, but with only Morgana and Freya standing up to applaud him.  Leon heads over to the other side of the stage, but looks over at Arthur who shoots him a wink and a thumbs up.

Next up is Eira who delivers a rather unique performance of _Nothing Compares 2 U_ which is massively improved by minimalistic lighting, though her voice cracks every now and then.

Then it's Gwaine on stage. The band isn't backing him at all, as he starts strumming on his acoustic guitar.

 _Oooh_  
_Honestly_  
_What will become of me?_  
_Don't like reality_  
_It's way too clear to me_  
_But really, life is dandy_  
_We are what we don't see_  
_Missed everything daydreaming_

It's during this performance that Arthur really realises how difficult the performance is going to be. Gwaine's voice is so raw and natural, it's breathtaking.

 _Flames to Dust_  
_Lovers to friends_  
_Why do all good things come to an end_  
_Flames to Dust_  
_Lovers to friends_

_Why do all good things come to an end?_

Freya is on her feet, and the crowd are swaying along, some even holding up their phone torches. Seeing as a majority of the audience is crew, they've probably been told to big up the reactions, but even so Arthur feels like joining them.

 _Travelling I only stop at exits_  
_Wondering if I'll stay_  
_Young and restless_  
_Living this way I stress less_  
_I want to pull away when the dream dies_  
_The pain sets in, I don't cry_  
_I only feel gravity and I wonder why,_

Gwaine stops playing his guitar, singing the last section a cappella,

 _Flames to dust_  
_Lovers to friends_  
_Why do all good things come to an end?_

It's another standing ovation for Gwaine from all four coaches. Gwaine takes a bow, smiles and walks off the main stage, only to be replaced by Elyan and Viv.

Elyan and Viv began to circle each other on stage singing, or in Arthur's opinion of Viv - shrieking, at each other. They'd chosen to do _All about that Bass_. The audience clapped them along, though the cheering was definitely subdued when they'd finished compared to all of the other performances that evening.

Arthur had been so caught up in the performances, it only struck him that it was his turn when Viv forced her microphone into Arthur's hands.

Everything got very quiet, though the crowd were still cheering as Arthur took to the stage. The sound of his shoes against the floor was deafening compared to the cheers of the crowd, Morgana, Lance and Freya, as was the sound of his heartbeat in his throat.

He reached the centre of the stage, and stood there. A cameraman run in to do a close up shot, and Arthur just waited. Another crew member brought the violin and it's stand on stage.

Arthur met Morgana with his eyes just as the drummer began to click him in. He then scanned the crowd until he met grey-blue eyes in the stands.

_Merlin._

The guitarist in the band started strumming the first few chords, as Arthur took a final deep breath.

 _Loving can hurt,_  
_Loving can hurt sometimes._  
_But it's the only thing that I know_

The crowd began to cheer, which was even more inspiring.

 _And when it gets hard_  
_You know it can get hard sometimes_  
_It is the only thing that makes us feel alive_

Arthur begins to walk forwards towards the judges, calmly but powerfully singing the pre-chorus, hitting every note Morgana and he practised.

_Oooh, we keep this love in a photograph_  
_We make these memories for ourselves_  
_Where our eyes are never closing_  
_Hearts are never broken_  
_Times forever frozen still_

The crowd continue to cheer him on. Morgana and Freya are both standing, Gaius giving Morgana an impressed look, Lance keeping time with his hand.

 _So you can keep me, Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans_  
_Holding me closer till our eyes meet_  
_You won't ever be alone_

He reaches for the violin, bringing it to his neck and drawing the bow carefully and skilfully across the strings.

 _And when I'm away_  
_I will remember how you kissed me_  
_Under the lamppost back on sixth street_  
_Hearing you whisper through the phone_

The band changes key, as Arthur does, the orchestral sound swelling behind him as he sings,

 _Wait for me to come home_  
_Wait for me to come home_  
_Wait for me to come home_

And in that instant it's all silent, the band have stopped playing, Arthurs bow-arm is still against his violin, as his voice carries the final line higher than he's ever sung before with perfect control.

_Oh wait for me to come home_

The crowd erupts as Arthur's hands come up to cover his face, still clutching the violin, his knuckles white. Nimueh calls Team Morgana onto stage as the applause continues. Everyone comes together in a random order, so he's sandwiched next to Leon and Cenred, the former of whom pulls Arthur into a tight hug and whispers his congratulations.

Arthur looks up and smiles at Leon, then turns to look at the crowd. Merlin is gone from where he was standing, though he was definitely there.

"Wow Morgana!" calls our Nimueh ecstatically, "What a Knockout!"

"They've all done their coach proud." Morgana said, beaming up at them.

"While you have a think about what you're going to do, let's go to your other coaches."

Freya speaks up first. "You're all fabulous, and you're all going to get one hell of a career and deserve to be in the charts."

"Who would you put through?" Nimueh asked her.

"Easily Morgause and Arthur. The other standouts were definitely Leon, Gwaine and Aithusa however"

"I agree." said Lance, "Though I'd also highly consider Eira too."

"Gaius, where the acts a good representation of their coach?"

"Absolutely" responded Gaius, "Most of the act's displayed fantastic vocal range and control, the backing was effectively done to highlight each acts voice and the musical accompaniment to each act was very fitting."

"Okay Morgana, you have eight acts, nine singers, but only four spaces for acts in the live-shows. It's time to make your first knockout decision."

The lights all shift and become red, spotlights shining down on each artist on stage, and the room is eerily quiet until the crowd started shouting out names.

Morgana holds up her hand to silence the crowd. "I've thought about it. The first person I'm taking through is someone who really impresses me, with their modesty towards their talent, their incredible range. This person is..."

She slams the button down. The lights flash!

"Arthur."

The crowd begins to cheer and yell as Arthur just stands there blinking in surprise. Cenred and Leon pull him into a joint hug, as do other contestants as Arthur works his way down the line before coming off the stage and hugging Morgana, Freya and Lance, and shaking hands politely with Gaius.

Nimueh gestures him over to her, and she asks him some questions.  
"How do you feel right now?"

"Um," Arthur stutters, "I'm just so happy. I've learnt so much and I feel honoured to be here. I look forward to making you proud in the lives Morgana."

Nimueh throws an arm around him and pats him on the shoulder.

"First into the live shows is Arthur. Who will follow him? Morgana, it's time to make your next knockout decision!"

The lights again shift to red, and everything goes silent.

"This next person was a gift to my team and someone I will forever aspire to be as good as. This person is an incredible performer and easily won their place tonight."

Morgana slams the button down.

"Morgause."

Morgause clutches her hands to her face as the crowd explode in cheering. The coaches stand clapping as she hugs her way down the line, then comes bounding down the steps to hug Morgana. Next she comes running up, hugging Arthur tightly.

"Congratulations" he whispers to her.

"Morgause!" Nimueh calls out excitedly to her. "A live show act for Team Morgana! How does it feel?"

"Absolutely amazing!" Morgause replies, her voice barely able to contain her excitement, "Morgana, thank you."

"Morgana, will you tell us your next live show act please?" Nimueh asks as the lighting shifts and the crowd goes quiet once again.

"This next act was quite a surprise tonight honestly, and after their performance tonight they absolutely were going to get a place in my live team."

"And who is this act Morgana?"

Morgana slams her button down. "Aithusa."

Aithusa's look of surprise was apparent as she was pulled into a big hug, her smile wide as Morgana hugged her and spoke to her quietly. She then came over and stood between Arthur and Morgause, both of whom hugged her.

"Aithusa, the youngest singer in the competition currently and now you're in the live shows."

 _Bless her_ thought Arthur, as Aithusa struggled to get her words out. "I just, I just don't even know what to say, but thank you Morgana, thank you!"

The remaining six people on stage are now starting to look quite nervous. Eira stands with her hands behind her back, Elyan and Viv hold hands next to her. Gwaine and Leon are stood to the other side of Cenred.

Arthur began to get a sinking feeling in his stomach. Whatever was going to happen, either Gwaine or Leon was going to be kicked off the competition.

"Morgana," said Nimueh, "Please tell us about the final person you're taking through to the live shows."

Morgana sat, pondering the four acts in front of her as the lights shifted red for the last time. "Firstly, I want to tell you all that this is not the end. You are all absolutely smashing vocalists and instrumentalists, and you will all have a career ahead of you. You wouldn't be standing here if you weren't talented."

She began to clench her right fist, her left hand circling round the button. "This is a hard decision, because there are more of you that, given different competition would easily make it through to the live shows and succeed in them. But, I'm going to go with my gut on this one."

She slams the button down.

"Gwaine."

Leon immediately pulls Gwaine into a tight hug. Arthur's heart sinks, as Leon's face is clearly trying to hide his disappointment. Nimueh asks Gwaine his question before saying "One last time, give it up for Team Morgana."

Morgana rushes on stage to hug Eira, Cenred, Leon and Elyan & Viv. The producers indicate to Arthur, Morgause, Gwaine and Aithusa that they should head across the stage into the backroom for the reaction interview. Another producer meets them at the door to backstage. "Just be really happy and emphatic if you could." she says, opening the door. Camera's are on them from all angles as the four of them cheer their way through the corridor.

Inside though, Arthur feels like shit. Morgana comes out of the studio and speaks to them briefly, inviting them all over for lunch tomorrow to discuss the lives. Aithusa, Gwaine and Morgause then head back in to watch Team Freya, leaving Arthur with Morgana.

"I'm sorry about Leon." she said. Arthur opens his mouth to respond, but she cuts him off. "It was a tough decision, and you and Leon are very musically alike, and you were definitely better than he was. He'll be fine, I've spoken to him already."

"He deserved it more than me." replied Arthur.

"You both deserved it, but it's not the end of it for Leon. Now, come on, Merlin and Gwen are up second and you won't want to miss their performance, according to Freya anyway."

Arthur joins her in going back into the studio. He finds Morgause, Aithusa and Gwaine in the crowd and joins them while Morgana goes back to her chair.

"Next up for the knockouts tonight, it's Team Freya!" calls out Nimueh.

Nine people take to the stage, Merlin and Gwen being the second and third on the left. Opening the knockout was a Sophia, who Arthur had heard good things about. She had a very high tone naturally, but was clearly a talented vocalist, delivering a flawless rendition of _Bad Blood_ by Taylor Swift.

The crowd responded quite well to Sophia, Arthur joining in with their cheer. Gwen and Merlin then made their way to the middle of the stage, Merlin with his guitar and Gwen with her violin. The two were simply dressed, Gwen in a floral jumpsuit, Merlin in his usual jeans and coat.

They hadn't told anyone what they were going to be singing, so Arthur wasn't sure what to expect. Something acoustic clearly by the guitar and the violin.

_Lying in the bed I hear the clock tick and think of you,  
And think of you_

Gwen's opening line has Freya on her feet and the crowd starting to go.

_Caught up in circles confusion  
is nothing new_

Merlin and Gwen are alternating their lyrics, and aren't looking at the audience as the play along with the song. They're  simply facing each other and singing to each other.

_Flashback, warm nights  
Almost left behind_

_Suitcases of Memories  
Time after,_

They both stop  playing, and the room falls silent. Then the band suddenly kicks in as they do, singing together in an explosion of orchestral sound.

_If you're lost you can look and you will find me_  
_Time after Time_  
_If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting_  
_Time after Time_

The band stop again, leaving Merlin and Gwen's voices and instruments the only sound.

_After my picture fades  
and darkness has turned to gray_

_Watching through windows  
you're wondering if I'm okay_

_Secret's stolen from deep inside  
the drum beats out of time_

The band kick in again as they come into the chorus again, Merlin's voice soaring in perfect balance above it.

 _If you're lost you can look and you will find me_  
_Time after Time_  
_If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting_  
_Time after Time_

They repeat the chorus, Gwen singing solo this time, matching the vocal gymnastics Merlin threw into his chorus.

 _If you're lost you can look and you will find me_  
_Time after Time_  
_If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting_  
_Time after Time_

They then sing it a final time, together, without the backing of the band, with only Merlin's guitar playing them through the song.

 _If you're lost you can look and you will find me_  
_Time after Time_  
_If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting_  
_Time after Time_

 _Time after Time_  
_Time after Time_  
_Time after Time_

The cheering is immense, as Merlin and Gwen bow and return to the side of the stage. All of the coaches give a standing ovation.

The next act to take the stage is a twenty-something named Valiant, who sings his way through Toto's _Africa_ , followed by Elena, who was another one to watch, who sung an outstanding operatic performance of _Empire_ by Shakira. An elderly woman named Annis then sung Elton John, followed by another woman called Helen who sung _Hideaway_ and received quite good applause. Freya's penultimate act was a trio of girls who sang _Take me to Church_. The final act was a teenaged guy called Bayard who sang one of Freya's songs - a massive risk in any judged competition - and completely butchered it.

The first acts Freya put through were Sophia and Elena. Kanen asked her, "Freya, would you please tell us about the third act you're putting through."

"This act had issues in their battle, though they've really overcome it, and through their own creative decisions delivered an amazing show with vocals to match. This act was..."

She pressed her button down, and everything went silent.

"Surprise Surprise it's Gwen and Merlin!"

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Gwen and Merlin hug each other tightly, then hug Freya when she came up to them on stage. When asked about how they felt, both had the same response.

"This is only just amazing. To think we've come from busking to singing live on national television is absolutely insane. Thank you, we look forward to making more art with you."

The final act called through after a think was Helen who sang hideaway. The successful acts were then shown backstage as Freya ran up to the stage to console those acts who hadn't made it through. The same female producer from the door then came on stage.

"Right everyone, we're going to have an hour break for lunch. If you could stay around the building it would make everything much easier, thank you.

The crowd began to slowly leave the studio. Arthur and the other's followed on when the doors weren't so blocked and headed backstage where all the acts who had sung, pass or fail, currently were.

On scanning the room however, Arthur noted that Leon wasn't there. He asked one of the producers. "We told him he was welcome to stay," the guy replied, "but he left before the second knockout started." When Arthur called him too, Leon didn't pick up his phone.

As Arthur was about to try again, Gwen came barrelling into him, Merlin and Elena in tow.  
"Arthur we made it I can't believe it."

"Congratulations Gwen, Merlin, Elena, you all gave absolutely amazing performances, they were an honour to watch."

Elena blushed. "Honey it was nothing on yours, but thanks." she came closer to Arthur and whispered in his ear. "Just before we went on, we saw Leon storm out into the carpark."

"Shit, I hope he's okay."

"He didn't look it, though he held it together on camera if that's any consolation."

A champagne bottle was uncorked loudly at one end of the room and flutes of the bubbly drink were handed out to all the contestants. Arthur spoke with Elena, Gwen and Merlin for a while, though at one point Gwen and Elena popped to the ladies, leaving Merlin with Arthur.

Merlin spoke first. "I'm sorry about ignoring you."

"It's fine, you didn't have to you know."

"I know, and it's not an excuse, but I was stressed about the performance and," he sighed, "seeing you with Leon just made me feel quite jealous."

Arthur wasn't sure right now how to respond to the last bit, so he addressed the first, which Merlin clearly noticed. "The performance was absolutely amazing."

"Freya had us work on blending our voices until we really cracked it. The staging was our idea though, and I think it came across well."

"It did, it looked great and it'll look great on TV."

"They did one continuous circle shot of us in one take to try and use, which hopefully should work quite well and make it quite intimate."

The producers then started calling people back into the studio to take their seats. Arthur found Morgause and the two of them returned to their seats to watch the next Knockout, which Nimueh introduced as Team Lance.

As expected by most of the people who knew Lance's team, Will absolutely smashed _Running Up That Hill_ , having most of the crowd on their feet cheering him. One of the other favourites, Percival, gave a good rendition of _Scarborough Fair_ which really suited his indie vibe. The other favourite, Cerdan, crashed out. He started off singing in the wrong key and from there it went worse.

In the end, Will was called first, followed by Percival, and a boy band called The Sidhe. The real surprise of the night was a young lady called Enmyria who smashed Clannad's _Alasdair Maccola_ with perfect pronunciation.

Team Gaius was the final team. Mordred who was considered the front runner did an okay performance of _Space Oddicy_. Another singer, Bronwen, did a decent rendition of Natalie Imbruglia's _Torn_ , whilst the other two acts sent through was a Mr. Kelda who sang _We are Young_ and a guy called Alvarr who sang _Try_ by Pink. These four were sent through to the live shows.

And that was that, the knockouts done and the live shows complete. Nimueh and Kanen stood up, talking through the shows with the coaches, who all naturally gave comments of praise to all teams.

"And that's it for the Knockout shows!" called Nimueh to one of the cameras. "Let's recap the teams shall we."

"On Team Morgana we have: Arthur, Morgause, Gwaine and Aithusa" said Kanen.

"On Team Freya we have: Elena, Sophia, Gwen and Merlin and Helen!" followed Nimueh.

"On Team Lance we have: Will, Percival, Enmyria and The Sidhe"

"And Finally on Team Gaius its: Mordred, Bronwen, Mr Kelda and Alvarr!"

"That's all for tonight folks, stay tuned as next week, we go onto the first of the Live shows! Goodnight!" both said in unison.

The Knockouts had taken hours, though that didn't stop a trip to the pub for a quick celebration drink before heading back to the hotel. On coming back into his room, ever so slightly tipsy, Arthur found it empty. No sign of Leon was there, his suitcase was gone and there was a note on the bed written in Sharpie.

**_I just had to get away. Will be in contact soon. L x_ **

Leon had left, and even if he and Arthur weren't hugely serious as a thing together, the bed felt colder that night alone for Arthur.


	7. The First Live Show: The Rehearsals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin and Arthur go for a drink, there is an awkward occurrence, rehearsals for the live shows begin and the group end up in the pub - again.

Following the filming of the knockouts came a rather long waiting period. The first of the blind auditions had only begun to show while they were filming for knockouts, so there were approximately seven or eight weeks until the week preceding the first of the live shows.

Arthur, like all of the other live show performers went home for this time, and watched the show as it aired each Saturday night. By the time the blind auditions had finished, Arthur's twitter had gained a fairly substantial number of followers and even the news had picked up on him, labelling him a 'comeback boy' after his less-than-successful EP release.

The support already coming in was incredulous to Arthur, the small following he had before the show throwing their weight behind him. From the looks of things, Merlin and Gwen were also reaping the benefits of being mildly established before the contest with support flowing in their direction. There were of course haters, as there always are, but Arthur couldn't really be bothered with them. Everyone has their favourite and those that they don't like, some are just more vocal than others.

The night of the first knockout - the one featuring Team Morgana and Team Freya - garnered a fair bit of media attention and mostly positive reactions from the viewing public. The producers had edited the show to really show off who got through and highlight the issues of those who did - some of the comments Arthur hadn't even said at the time had been aired about his confidence when it came to performing. In the end, his performance, if he did say so himself, looked pretty good on the Television.

The following day was the return to the studio to begin preparing for the lives and to take promotional shots, and so Arthur caught an early morning train and was at the studio by the afternoon. Upon arriving, he was directed into Morgana's studio room where he joined Morgause, Aithusa and Gwaine.

The photographers took some promotional shots of the team before leaving the room, being replaced by Morgana herself.

"Afternoon all!" she greeted them brightly. "Today is the day when we discuss your songs for the live shows and take even more promotional shots and shoot some footage of rehearsal. The rest of the footage will be shot over the next couple of weeks, slotted in with regular rehearsal for the first live show."

She glances down at her notepad. "First priority on the list is the group performance. They're having each team open the first show with a team performance. I'm not in this one, I'll most likely be in the one in the semi or quarter finals, so this one is up to you."

Again she glances down at the list. "You are gonna be performing _Firework_ by Katy Perry, which was not wholly my decision but features elements for you all to shine in so we're going to go with it."

There's a murmur of agreement with her choice from the four of them.

"The next priority will be your solo for the first live. Now, you won't all be making it through to the final, even though you are all good enough, but we'll need to go over song choices for all of the shows this week. I've thought of some for each of you, though we can discuss it and work with your personal preference."

She passes the four of them each a sheet of lyrics. "Right, If I see Arthur first, we'll be about half an hour for each of you. If you'd like to start learning the lyrics we can go through them together once we're all done."

The other three depart, leaving Arthur with Morgana who pulls him into a hug. Immediately cameras are surrounding them. "How are things, been busy?"

"Not really." he replied, "just been doing the usual."

"Have you thought about songs?" she asked as she sat at the piano.

"I had a couple of ideas."

"Well these are the ideas I had for you." she says, passing him a few sheets. He skims through them. "What do you think?"

"If it's alright with you, I would prefer to go a bit more powerful with the song, so I had an idea."

"What did you have in mind?"

" _What Kind of Man_ by Florence + The Machine."

Morgana pondered this for a moment, then nodded. As if by magic, a producer hurried on screen with sheet music and lyrics.

"Right if you'd like to give it a run through with the piano, we'll see how it feels." she says, flexing her fingers then placing them on the piano keys.

Arthur coughed to clear his throat, and then began.

 _I was on a heavy tip,_  
_Tryna cross a canyon with a broken limb._  
_You were on the other side,_  
_Like always, wondering what to do with life._  
_I'd already had a sip,_  
_So I'd reasoned I was drunk enough to deal with it._  
_You were on the other side,_  
_Like always, you could never make your mind._  
  
_And with one kiss,_  
_You inspired a fire of devotion,_  
_That lasted for twenty years,_  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
  
_To let me dangle at a cruel angle,_  
_Oh my feet don't touch the floor._  
_Sometimes you're half in and then you're half out,_  
_But you never close the door._  
  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
_What kind of man?_  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
_What kind of man?_  
  
_You're a holy fool all coloured blue,_  
_Red feet upon the floor._  
_You do such damage, how do you manage,_  
_Tryna crawling back for more?_  
  
_And with one kiss,_  
_You inspired a fire of devotion,_  
_That lasted for twenty years,_  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
_What kind of man?_  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
_What kind of man?_  
  
_But I can't beat you,_  
_Cause I'm still with you,_  
_Oh mercy I implore!_  
_How do you do it?_  
_I think I'm through it,_  
_Then I'm back against the wall._  
  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
_What kind of man?_  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
_What kind of man?_

"Oh wow." said Morgana, "That was powerful, and it worked so well with your voice." She grabbed her notepad and did some scribbling on it. "I've had a change of heart for your song for the final by the way, but that's a surprise for now."

The rest of the band came on, and began to set up. "Let's run it through again with band."

And so they did, the band really bringing the song to life and bringing a smile to Morgana's face as she prompted Arthur along, indicating when to go higher and lower and when to ad-lib and show off his voice.

"I'm actually really happy with that." he said

"Good. Now don't lose confidence." she passed him the lyrics sheet as well as the music. "We don't need the violin but there it all is, should you want to practise between now and next rehearsal. We can see if we can work the violin in a bit, but now it is all about your voice."

She told him his time for rehearsal with her then sent him out, asking him to send Morgause in. The remainder of the day was pretty uneventful until the group performance rehearsal, where they all stood around the piano singing out their allocated sections of the song and working on their harmonies. Morgana had been right, while not the most obvious choice for a group of four to sing, the end result was quite good.

Afterwards, as if no time had passed, they went to the pub, where they discussed what they'd been doing since they'd all last seen each other and what songs they had picked.

"I'm doing _Purple Rain_." said Morgause. "What about you guys?"

" _Wicked Game,_ Chris Isaak" replied Aithusa. "Purple Rain, damn, you're gonna slay that on stage. What about you Gwaine?"

"D'you remember _Drive By_ by Train?"

"Oh yeah, from like 2012?" Arthur asked.

Gwaine nodded. "I'm doing that on stage. No idea how Morgana wants to stage it, but she wants me to play the guitar with it on stage."

"Ah, that's pretty cool."

"Morgana said she's holding the budget for the semi and quarter finals though." said Morgause. "That we're all going simple and then when the time comes the stops are all coming out."

They all pondered this. "It makes sense." pointed out Arthur, "I mean, she get's two of us through by default in the first show, so may as well make the stage shows their best when it's no longer in her hands."

The others agreed with him.

"When you put it that way, it is sensible yeah." replied Gwaine, "Seen any of the other teams yet?"

Morgause looked around the pub. "Merlin and Gwen are over there with Elena and Sophia. Haven't seen anyone else." Gwaine leaves to get more drinks with Aithusa, who had turned eighteen since they had been gone. Once they are both out of immediate earshot, Morgause turns to Arthur. "Have you seen or heard from Leon at all?"

Arthur had told her about Leon's note after they had left. "No, he's just up and left without a trace."

"Have you tried talking to Morgana about it? She's got more power over the broadcaster, they can probably get you in contact with him."

"I don't really know if it's worth it." Arthur said, surprising himself even with his sudden honesty. "Leon and I, It never struck me as something that had staying power. It was never really emotional, not to me anyway. And it must not have been to him either, seeing as he took off leaving only a note."

Morgause crossed her legs under the table and leaned forward to him. "Leon was very upset when he left, partially because he lost his place in the lives and we all know if there was a fifth spot it would have been him." She licks her lips, looking as though she's uncertain as to whether or not to say the next part.

"Say whatever it is." Arthur states, clearly having noticed.

"He was upset that Aithusa and Gwaine who were both steals got through and he didn't. It's understandable, which is why he took off. But, he and I had a talk, and I can promise you Arthur he cared about you greatly. I probably shouldn't say this too, but he felt like he couldn't be too forward with the romance because he was scared of putting you off."

"Well it did the opposite."

Morgause smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll see him again, and when you do it'll be exactly as you want it to be, whether that's on a romantic standpoint or as friends."

Arthur simply nodded, processing the information he had just recieved. _I had no idea that Leon had actually felt that way_ he thought.

Gwaine and Aithusa returned with shots for all of them, which they downed in unison. The four of them then collected their things, and left the pub.

Unlike before, now that there were only 16 acts remaining, the broadcaster who ran The Voice had laid on accommodation for them all. A floor of apartments had been rented, with an apartment given to each act.

Gwaine and Arthur were sharing one, whilst Morgause and Aithusa were sharing another in order to conserve space. The other teams were also split across apartments, two ladies or gents to an apartment, in teams if possible, and another apartment for The Sidhe, who were the boy band on Team Lance.

Each apartment was fairly average, a couple of bedrooms, a kitchen dining area, a living space and a bathroom. There was also a small closet which had been soundproofed and had good acoustics, so could be used for practising, if of course you didn't mind singing in a closet.

Arthur and Gwaine joined Morgause and Aithusa in their apartment where they played Cheat. They also bumped into Will and Gwen in the corridor, who joined them and gave them all the information from their teams.

"Two sevens." said Gwen, placing two cards down. "No, Merlin and I are going to be singing Marika Hackman's _Animal Fear_. I know that Elena was talking about singing something by CHVRCHES though I don't know if she actually is. Helen is gonna do _Ain't got far to go_ by Jess Glynne and Sophia is doing _Love me Like you Do_."

"Good choices." said Will. "Well, from the songs I know. Ellie Goulding's sound is definitely the same as Sophia's. One six."

"Three Sevens." said Gwaine putting down his cards.

"Cheat." called Aithusa. Gwaine, grumbling, picked up the stack of cards from the table. "I know Marika Hackman, she's very you and Merlin's sound."

"Speaking of Merlin. Where is he?" asked Morgause. "Four Twos."

Gwen shrugged. "No idea, he went out to go get some records, no idea if he's back." She pulls out her phone. "I've texted him to tell him that we are here if he wants to come."

Arthur played his cards, and got incorrectly called out for cheating by Gwaine who had to pick up the placed cards again. "What about on Team Lance Will?"

"Oh, song wise? I'm doing Fleetwood Mac, Percy is doing Bruno Mars, no idea what the Sidhe are doing." he thinks for a moment. "I think Enmyria is doing Lean On."

"If so, good luck to her." said Morgause. "How can you adapt a song which is largely instrumental to a singing performance."

"She'll probably just ad-lib and go crazy vocally during the instrumental breaks." postulated Arthur. "I mean, that's what other people have done with similar songs."

"True."

Arthur left them shortly after, as he had his next rehearsal the following morning so needed to be up earlier than the others. As he crossed the corridor to his and Gwaine's apartment and began to unlock the door, he heard a yell from the stairway, a yell for help!

He rushed over and saw Merlin, slumped at the bottom of the stairwell. "Christ Merlin, you okay?"

"What do you think, I bloody fell didn't I." Merlin called out to him. Arthur rushed down and helped him up. Merlin swayed slightly where he stood.

"You've had a bit to drink, haven't you." asked Arthur.

"How could you tell?" hiccupped Merlin in response.

"Come on, I'll help you up and take you to Gwen, she'll take care of you."

Merlin was having none of it however, instead preferring to lean in and kiss Arthur chastely. Arthur could taste the alcohol on Merlin's lips and Merlin's tongue. He stood there for a moment, paralysed in surprise as Merlin bit his bottom lip and ran a hand through Arthurs hair.

When he pulled away, Merlin looked Arthur dead in the eye. "I needed to do that." He then made to go up the stairs but Arthur grabbed his hand.

"You can at least tell me, all I've heard about what you think or feel about me is through other people."

Merlin giggled. "Arthur, I'm not really in the state or mood to discuss feelings right now, I'm in another mood entirely." And with that, Merlin took Arthur by the wrist and pulled him upstairs with him. Merlin took him all the way down the hall to his room which he shared with Gwen and shut the door behind them.

"Merlin, is this a good idea? You're very drunk." Arthur pointed out.

Merlin decided to ignore him, instead pulling Arthurs shirt off in one swift movement and kissing down his neck. "I don't know if I can, you know, but you're not drunk so I can do something about that." Merlin pushed Arthur lightly down onto the sofa and began to undo Arthurs belt.

"Merlin, I'm not sure about this."

"Arthur." Merlin said, suddenly sounding serious, looking up at him. "I won't if you don't want me to, but I need to do this, please."

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I." Merlin told him as he unzipped Arthurs trousers and pulled Arthur's length out of his pants.

Whilst drunk, Merlin gave surprisingly good head, better than some of the head Arthur had received from some of his partners whilst they were sober anyway. Still, something felt awkward about Arthur sitting there, in Merlin and Gwen's apartment whilst Merlin sucked him off. And when Arthur came, there was an awkward silence.

Wordlessly, he and Merlin went and cleaned up in the small bathroom, and Arthur left. He didn't speak, and neither did Merlin. Both went to sleep with a lot on their minds that night.

The following morning, Arthur went to his rehearsal as if nothing had happened. Everything was normal, though it was playing on his mind as he and Morgana argued over songs for the quarter final.

"Okay, I'll do _Diamonds_. I don't see why it fits me though." he told her.

"It's quite soft in tone." she said, having repeated the reasoning twice already, "which is a good contrast to _What Kind of Man_. That, and I have a great idea for a stage show that will go with this, and it's again something different from you. We can go back to emotional slow Ballad-like Arthur in the semi-finals should you make it through."

"Okay, I just have concerns that I've not done anything like before. I mean, _What Kind of Man_ is different enough being full on power, but this is full power ballad pop performance."

"Well from the part of it you just sung, it very much is, it really highlights your versatility."

"Okay, let's go with it. If not, we can highlight my confidence some more for the show anyway."

Morgana patted him on the shoulder, "That's the spirit."

They practised the song some more, then went through _What Kind of Man_ again a couple of more times.

"The stage has actually been put together fully now." said Morgana, "We can go over in two minutes and talk about how we'll put it together on the stage."

The stage for the live shows was in a different studio than the other shows had been in. This studio was larger, with multiple levels, slots for pyrotechnics. It even had a large LED screen backing the stage.

"Okay, let's talk staging for the first show." she said, "You may have heard that I'm planning fairly low budget for the first two performances to build up money for the next shows."

"I had indeed."

"So I thought, let's do the obvious, and bring the band on stage."

"Pretty standard." Arthur replied. "I mean, it's tried and tested to say the least."

"I wasn't leaving it at band. They'll be some twists, but from the provisional plans I've put together for the whole team and the plans of the other coaches, they are all using that." she pointed at the LED screen.

"So I'm not going to?"

"No, you won't." she smiled. "Instead, we are going to play with the lighting and the camera shots. We have lots of potential there, and it's easy to do. Cheap too."

"What are you thinking?"

"Well, obviously the band is playing a big part, as the song is very built up musically, but the transition in tempo is the main element. So, I'd had some thoughts. Before the song goes all Allegro, we have you sing on stage with the violin as an introduction. All the lights will be on you, so everything else will be dark. The second the switch happens, the back lights will flash and the band will kick in, from there we really use the lighting in time with the song."

"Okay..."

"So we're overall going to take the less is more approach, and go simple."

Arthur nodded. "Sounds good, especially if most of the others are going complex."

"Well Gwaine is going simple like you, relatively. I'm gonna have him playing guitar, sitting on a bench. Also simple but a different kind."

Morgana spoke to the producers, filled out a large form and handed it to one of them. "There, I've requested what we should need, the broadcaster will sort it. Coffee?"

Arthur hadn't realised how tired he was, "Yeah, please."

Morgause drove him back to her home once again, where she made a cafetiere of coffee for the two of them.

"So, how are you and Leon?" she asked.

Arthur shrugged. "I don't know, haven't seen or heard from him since he stormed out the knockouts."

Morgana looked guilty. "I sometimes regret not putting him through, but I don't think he'd be ready for the live shows. He needed that bit more time to mature as a musician."

Arthur simply nodded, so Morgana continued.

"So, how's Merlin."

"Why are you asking me?" he replied, "Merlin and I, we aren't a thing."

Morgana raised her eyebrows at him. "Freya said Merlin was incredibly off in his rehearsal this morning, and you're exactly the same."

He sighed, "There was a, well, an incident of sorts last night."

She held up a hand. "I don't need details, but I think I get the picture. It's awkward now then I'm guessing?"

He nodded. "I don't know what he expects of me, or what I even want."

"Do what makes you happy, as your sister that's all I can say."

"I know."

She tapped her fingers against the table. "Have you tried talking to him?"

"No."

"Talk to him then." she said, "Merlin really likes you, that much is obvious."

"But I don't know if I like him."

"Well, it won't hurt to talk to him, when you're both sober too. It'll clear things up."

He looked up at her, his sister that he had only properly known for a few months now, but someone he already immensely respected and was already there for him as if they'd known each other all their lives. "Thank you."

"Anytime." she smiled at him. "It's what sisters do. Anyway, how's your dad?"

"Still not back from his tour."

"The producers still want me to put together a little father-son song for one of the shows. I just thought I'd warn you that they're going to reach out to him about it. What does he think about you being here?"

"He doesn't actually know." Arthur told her. "He doesn't watch the show and he's been away the whole time." He paused, "What happens if the press find out that you and I are related?"

"Nothing probably, it'll get run but there's nothing wrong with it. You've carried yourself this far, I didn't know it was you initially, and when it comes to the semi-finals and onwards, or earlier, you'll be going through based on public vote alone."

"It'll be a fair bit of media buzz."

"It could work in your favour though, we'll have to see." she said.

Arthur stayed for half an hour longer before heading back to the studio. Over the next few days, they had a few more rehearsals. He and Morgana also discussed the songs he would do should he reach the semifinals and if he managed to reach the final, the latter of which would include a duet with Morgana.

He didn't see Merlin much over that time. He saw Gwen and Will a fair bit in addition to Morgause, Gwaine and Aithusa, but according to Gwen, Merlin was keeping to himself a lot more.

The next week rolled around and the first few evenings were spent at promotional events which the broadcaster had put together for the acts to perform at in an attempt to drum up media attention and good press, but even at these, Merlin was never nearby when Arthur was. The next time he saw him was the Wednesday before the first live show, which was the first of the main full show rehearsals.

Arthur was to perform after Bronwen, who was singing _Royals_. Her stage show looked expensive certainly, with a large centrepiece, flashy lighting, and a lot of dancers. Arthur then took to the stage after the props people cleared the stage away and brought the bands stuff on stage. As the band kicked in, Arthur noticed Merlin out of the corner of his eye, watching him from the other side of the hall.

Arthur kept an eye on Merlin the whole time, and as soon as he was done performing he ran down the steps towards him.

"Merlin!" Merlin had made to turn and walk away, but stopped to look up at him.

"Yes?"

"What do you mean, yes?" asked Arthur, shocked by the question, "What happened that night happens and then you ignore and avoid me? Why?"

Merlin shuffled uncomfortably. "I regretted it instantly after." he said, quietly so no one else could hear, "And you clearly weren't into it either, so I thought best not to bring it up."

"That doesn't mean you have to avoid me, you could have just said you regretted it."

"You wouldn't have understood."

"Says who? Merlin, I... I don't know what to feel about this whole thing, about you," Arthur whispered to him, "But I sure as hell can't figure it out if every time something happens you storm off and avoid me for days."

Merlin looked up at him. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"How I feel about you. I know you like me, everyone else is saying it too."

"And you, you don't like me back?"

"I don't know, but I can't figure it out if I can't even talk to you, which either way would put the issue to rest for both of us." Arthur turned as Morgana called him over. "Look, this can't happen right now, but do you want to go for a drink tonight? The usual pub, we can just talk things over, okay?"

Merlin nodded. "Yeah, sure. This all wraps up at seven, we could go then."

"Sounds good."

Arthur bid Merlin goodbye and hurried over to Morgana, who summised everything wrong with the performance and informed the producer with them of the changes they wanted for the next rehearsal tomorrow.

That evening, Arthur and Merlin walked to the pub together after all the rehearsals had finished, got a pint and sat down.

It was an awkward silence to begin with.

Arthur was the first to break it. "So, tell me a bit about yourself."

Merlin scratched his neck. "Well, obviously I'm Merlin, I'm in my twenties, I'm a singer, guitarist and can even play a bit of cello, I'm from a village in the middle of nowhere, and I'm bisexual and incredibly awkward." He paused, "No, that's about it, how about you?"

"I'm Arthur, also in my twenties, singer and violinist by trade, though I can play the piano. Grew up in the city, my mother died when I was young, and I get my violin talent from her, and my father is a blues singer currently touring in the States. I'm also gay, but hopefully not too awkward."

Merlin frowned, "It must have been hard, your mum dying when you were little. I couldn't imagine living without my mum."

"Well my dad was never really there, so I grew up quite independently. How about your parents?"

"My mother, Hunith, she's a nurse in a town near my village. My father I never knew, he left my Mum before I was born."

"Oh dude, I'm sorry about that."

"So we have something in common, we both grew up with one parent."

"Not you're common connection." Arthur chuckled, "but we have more than that. We're both instrumentalists and vocalists, both on the Voice of Albion, etcetera."

"I guess there is that."

"So, on the subject that is pretty much all that anyone talks about, how are you feeling about the performance?"

"Uh, actually quite good. The song we're performing isn't too well known but hopefully it will carry us through. Freya says we'll be in contention for a fast pass if mine and Gwen's voices can blend perfectly."

"You'll be able to do it. You were both incredible at the knockouts."

Merlin knocked back the rest of his drink. "Well hopefully it's repeatable."

Arthur glanced at his watch, "We should probably head back to the flats, seeing as how early rehearsal starts tomorrow."

The two left and walked back in silence to the flats. However, unlike before, the silence wasn't as awkward, as either man understood each other more. The future for them was still unclear however, as the next few days progressed and the night of the first live show drew closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise it's so late. This may be the last chapter I can get out for a while, real life stuff is getting in the way. However, I will be back next time with the full first live show. I also apologise for any inconsistencies, I haven't had time to read through this as much as I normally would. But, I hope you enjoy it! Peace.


	8. The First Live Show: The Broadcast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur, Morgause, Gwaine and Aithusa compete against other acts including Merlin and Gwen for a place in the second live show and quarter final of The Voice of Albion.

The full dress rehearsal for the first show was coming up the day before the first live show, and would be the first run through will all of the effects, lighting and LED screens.

The two previous run-throughs however on the Thursday and the Friday were however much of the same. Arthur only stayed for some of it, which was the dummy voting and his own performances - solo and with the rest of his team. Both were shaping up well as he continued the vocal exercises Morgana gave him which were really paying off.

But before anyone knew it, the morning before the first show came round. The flats were eerily quiet in the morning, as if the seriousness of the loss of four acts had only just come across them. Arthur had spotted the band members of the Sidhe in the diner across the street sitting silently together - it was as if the playful teenaged guys he'd known had never existed.

Still, at the end of the day, it was a competition to Arthur, and he was out to win it. Countless other people had tried and failed to get this far, and he wasn't about to let anyone else get the better of him.

Gwen, who Arthur saw later that morning in one of the shops that morning was as bubbly as ever.

"Arthur!" she called him over. Arthur had gone into Topman, trying to find some better trousers to wear during his performance, when she had noticed him in the adjacent Topshop. "How are you feeling about tonight?"

"Oh, hey Gwen. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good, trying to get some better jeans than these," he indicated down at his own worn jeans, "How about you and Merlin?"

"We're quietly confident I think," she said, smiling at him. "The chat you both had did him some good I think, he's acting a lot less awkward now which is always good."

"I'm glad. I still haven't seen him around too much."

"We've been very busy, rehearsing day and night. This is the first time I've left the flats other than for rehearsal since Tuesday."

"What about the pub trips afterwards?"

She waved a hand. "They don't count. We're just rehearsing the celebrations or commiserations."

"Well it doesn't sound as cheery when you say it like that."

"True." she said, still smiling softly, "But in reality, four acts are going to go, and I reckon we're okay. You definitely are, but Merlin and I should be fine. We're aiming to make the semi-finals, which we may just do."

"You'll go far." Arthur said. It was all he could say, because who was going out was pretty much anybody's guess. "I mean, you're the only duet and you're special."

"Well Merlin and I are just glad to be here." she said, "We were very unknown before, and now the exposure is incredible. People are even buying our EP, and we've entered the Top 100, though we peaked at 98. Still, it's incredible."

The same had also happened to Arthur, the sale of EP going up substantially since the Knockout shows. "That's amazing, you should be so proud. But any publicity is good for any musical artist, and the music we produce is going to go to so many people."

She nodded. "Exactly." her watch beeped. "Christ, I've got to head off, Freya's having a last minute meeting." pulling her bag over her shoulder she pointed at a stand across in Topman where some dark trousers were. "Those skinny ones will look great. See you!"

And she was right, as Arthur left ten minutes later with a pair of them.

Morgana it turned out had also called a last minute meeting in her studio at four. Arthur made himself a light lunch, packed a bottle of water into his bag and went to the studio at the time she has specified. There were now only six hours until the show was to begin.

"Right, so, I figured we'd have somewhat of a pep talk and strategy talk for tonight." she said when they were all assembled in the studio, this time with no cameras on them.

"So as you probably know, tonight the format is this: you perform your solo pieces mixed amongst the other teams solo performances. The choice them comes to me, and I get to select two of you to receive 'fast passes' which will put you straight into the next show. The other two will go into the public vote."

She straightened up a bit from the chair she was sitting on. "This does not mean I am abandoning you both or that you were my least favourite. The decision will be made on a tactical as well as a skill basis. The two of you can, and hopefully will, still progress to the quarter final based on the public vote."

Arthur and the other three nodded to show they understood.

"From there, we perform our group performance while the vote is going on. So if the two who get fast passes can still impress while not stealing the show that would be fabulous. You're up against tough competition but you are all easily good enough to be able to win this year." She produced her notebook and checked it. "I think that's it. I'll see you all back here in two and a half hours to go over wardrobe and makeup and such."

She bid them farewell and they dispersed, the four of them leaving through the studio door. Morgause asked them all for coffee and they agreed, heading to a café across the street from their regular pub. They stayed and chatted over drinks for a bit, but soon began to spread out to go do their own thing. It wasn't awkward as some of the others Arthur had seen had around, Morgause and Gwaine keeping the conversation flow normal. They did agree however, regardless of the result, to all meet in the pub that night for a drink.

Arthur then went and got his hair cut ready for the show as it had last been cut before the blind auditions. He left the barber looking pretty fly if he did say so himself. There was still an hour to kill until he had to be at the studio however, so he snooped around the nearby book and record shops for anything interesting.

He arrived at the studio five minutes early and was shown into Morgana's studio. Morgause was already in there chatting with Morgana.

"Arthur, good to see someone else is punctual." Morgana said. "Now there's two of you here we can start going over wardrobe." There were a collection of clothing racks in the corner which Morgause took them over too and began to look through. "Here." she passed Arthur a hanger with a fresh shirt and jacket on it. "Keep the trousers they look good." she said, indicating the trousers he was wearing.

Arthur went into the second, smaller, interview room connected to the studio to change. Morgana had passed him the same red leather jacket he had worn in the knockouts, this time with a grey t-shirt and black canvas shoes.

He emerged a few minutes later, fully dressed, and checked himself out in the mirror.

"Looking fine." Morgause said as she passed him on her way into the room to change. "Love the hair too."

"Thanks." he said. Morgana called him over to where there were now six outfits lying on the table.

"These are the outfits for the group performance, what do you think?" she asked.

Gwaine and Aithusa came in before Arthur could say anything. Morgana passed them their outfits and directed them to other rooms to change in.

"I like it." he said, truthfully. When she had said outfits for the group performance, Arthur did fear she was going to coordinate them. She had, but had gone a simple way about it, dressing all of them in jeans and dark shirts. They each also had a pair of black trainers with different coloured neon laces (Arthur noticed he got the pink ones).

Morgause emerged from the small side room dressed simply, like Arthur was in dark trousers with an embroidered leather jacket. She did a twirl for them both, which Arthur responded to with a double-thumbs up. The three of them talked until Aithusa and Gwaine rejoined them. Both were dressed similarly simply, Gwaine in a pale blue shirt and jeans and Aithusa in a pouf dress.

Morgana leaves and returns with a photographer, and we spend the next ten to fifteen minutes taking promotional shots which, upon checking his phone saw some of the shots going up on the FaceBook and Twitter pages as well as photos from other teams, taking particular notice of Merlin who was looking very dashing indeed.

There was now only an hour or so until the show was due to begin. Morgana took them to the studio, where the production crew were hurrying around, checking the rigs and screen are all functional. Morgana and the other coaches ran through the running order with them once more. They had changed the running order at the previous dress rehearsal, Arthur wasn't sure why but the producers had determined a new order.

"So Sophia, you will perform first, followed by Gwaine, then the Sidhe, then Bronwen. We'll have a short break the producers tell us, and the first act back is Helen, followed by Mordred, then Enmryia and the final act before the second break is Aithusa. After that break, it's Morgause, Mr Kelda, Will and Merlin & Gwen. The third break will then happen, and the final four solo performances will be Percival, Alvarr, Arthur then Elena. That clear?"

The seventeen of them all replied with "Clear."

"Great, then we'll come to the fast passes, Where the four of us with assign our passes, Morgana first, then Freya, Gaius and myself." said Lance, "Following that, we open up the public vote and then have the team performances in that same order. The results will be known after those and our celebrity guest performances and you'll be called to stage for that."

They were dismissed to go to final hair and make-up checks and were then told to wait for the stage entrances to begin. Arthur could hear the audience, this time not a mostly planted audience but an actual paying audience outside.

Nimueh and Kanen rushed past the acts waiting backstage to come out on the stage. Though he couldn't see them Arthur, could hear their commentary over the blaring music and sudden crowd cheering when they had taken to stage.

"The Voice of Albion is now live!" Nimueh called out to raucous applause from the crowd. "Tonight, sixteen acts battle it out in solo and team performances for a spot in the quarter final. Four of them will sadly be left behind, and that's where you can come in. The running order and phone numbers are on your screens now."

"Though lines are not currently open." Kanen cut in, "So don't call yet or you may still be charged. Calls cost you're standard network rate, please seek bill payer permission before voting. You can also vote up to four times."

"But now." called out Nimueh, "Let's meet our coaches and acts shall we?"

The audience roared in response.

Morgana came to stand with Arthur, Morgause, Aithusa and Gwaine by the door. "We're up first, remember to smile, you're on live TV." she said, fiddling with her hairpiece.

"She brought a dynamic team this year and has done it again. It's Morgana!" Nimueh called from outside.

The five of them stepped forward and then out on stage from the back, walking in a line together. Music was blaring and the screens and lights of the stage were going crazy with effects and colours.

"And it's her live show team, Aithusa, Arthur, Gwaine and Morgause!" Kanen called out.

The crowd cheered the five of them as they stood on stage. They then, sans Morgana who made towards her chair, headed down one of the catwalks towards the other entrance to backstage.

To Arthur, it was exhilarating, the crowd cheering, the lights the sound, everything was in overload and it was incredible, nerve wracking but incredible. The four of them then made their way through back stage and back out into the studio, this time inside the V-Room where the acts sat to watch. Lance brought his team on, then Freya and finally Gaius. The other teams poured in to join them as they came onto stage, Sophia sitting nervously on her cushion seat, anxiously watching the stage.

Elena put an arm around her to comfort her and remind her that she was going to nail it. Nimueh and Kanen then talked for a bit with the coaches, before a variety of rehearsal footage was shown as a montage. When the screen in the V-Room (which was there to see the TV view as well as the stage) returned to Nimueh she was standing with Freya.

"Up first, it's Sophia." she said, leaning against Freya's chair.

The screen then cut to Sophia's promo - a mixture of interview, rehearsal and filler shots centred about her. The moment it came on, Sophia made her way through the crowd onto the stage where production crew were hurriedly setting up, lowering a chandelier from the ceiling and wheeling on a small fountain.

_Freya really is going full out_ Arthur thought, as Sophia was passed a microphone and stood in the dark under the chandelier. The TV then cut back to Nimueh standing at the end of the catwalk. "Singing _Love Me Like You Do_ , it's Sophia." she said. The camera's then panned to Sophia on stage.

The introduction music played as the lights slowly lit on Sophia, standing in front of the Chandelier. She began to sing, and instantly parts of the crowd were on their feet. By the time the first chorus was over, more were on their feet as Sophia sat by the fountain carefully singing the low notes. When the final chorus came around however, she strutted down the small catwalk towards the crowd who all reached for her.

Once she had finished, she took to centre stage with Nimueh, and they talked through the act with all four of the coaches, all of whom only had positive things to say, complementing her vocal range, her ease of transition between chest and head voice and her impressive upper register.

Gwaine got up and headed for stage, as Kanen introduced him standing by Morgana's chair. His promo began to play as he made his way down the stairs to the stage. Arthur watched the promo clip as the stagehands finished moving Sophia's staging away, replacing it with a drum kit, mic stand and bench.

Gwaine's clip was like the others, with a shot of him standing by a mic, followed by rehearsal footage with Morgana. The screen then cut back to Kanen. "Singing _Drive By_ , It's Gwaine."

The camera then panned to Gwaine on stage, sitting on the bench with his acoustic guitar, which he began to play.

_On the other side of a street I knew_  
_Stood a girl that looked like you_  
 _I guess that's deja vu_  
 _But I thought this can't be true_  
 _'Cause you moved to west L.A or New York or Santa Fe_  
 _Or where ever to get away from me_

_Oh but that one night_  
_Was more than just right_  
 _I didn't leave you cause I was all through_  
 _Oh I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell_  
 _Because I really fell for you_

The drummer began to play as the chorus came in, Gwaine's voice carrying strongly over the guitar and drum mix.

_Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya_  
_This is not a drive by_  
 _Just a shy guy looking for a two ply_  
 _Hefty bag to hold my love_  
 _When you move me everything is groovy_  
 _They don't like it sue me, mm way you do me_  
 _Oh I swear to you, I'll be there for you_  
 _This is not a drive by_

_On the other side of a downward spiral_  
_My love for you went viral_  
 _And I loved you every mile you drove away_  
 _But now here you are again_  
 _So let's skip the "how you been"_  
 _And get down to the "more than friends" at last_

_Oh but that one night_  
_Is still the highlight_  
 _I didn't need you until I came to_

_And I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell  
Because I really fell for you_

He held the last note and took it high, before launching back into the chorus.

_Oh I swear to you, I'll be there for you_  
_This is not a drive by_  
 _Just a shy guy looking for a two ply_  
 _Hefty bag to hold my love_  
 _When you move me everything is groovy_  
 _They don't like it sue me, mm way you do me_  
 _Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya_  
 _This is not a drive by_

Leaving the guitar on the bench, Gwaine unhooked the microphone and walked forward on stage singing into the camera.

_Please believe that when I leave_  
_There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you_  
 _And a little time to get my head together too_

_On the other side of a street I knew_  
_Stood a girl that looked like you_  
 _I guess that's deja vu_  
 _But I thought this can't be true, 'cause_

_Oh I swear to you, I'll be there for you_  
_This is not a drive by_  
 _Just a shy guy looking for a two ply_  
 _Hefty bag to hold my love_  
 _When you move me everything is groovy_  
 _They don't like it sue me, mm way you do me_  
 _Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya_  
 _This is not a drive by_

He threw the vocal gymnastics into the last chorus, contorting his voice whilst keeping the same cheery tone he had since the start. When he was finished, Morgana stood up to applaud him, as did Freya, Lance and Gaius.

Kanen joined Lance on stage as the stagehands began to clear away the drumkit and bench. "So, coaches, what did you think."

Freya started. "Gwaine, you have a beautiful tone and it works so well with this type of music. I think you were fantastic."

Lance continued on where Freya left off. "You have this amazing commercial sound, the guitar playing, it's all very now and in and very radio friendly. You're going to have an amazing career."

Gaius paid the same sort of comments, complementing Gwaine on his vocal ability, whilst Morgana sang his praises however. "You were absolutely amazing tonight, it's amazing to see how you've developed over the competition and you should be incredibly proud of yourself."

The Sidhe followed Gwaine, singing a cover of _History_ by One Direction. Their staging was very typical band, but recieved good comments for the lead singers voice and the groups chemistry. Bronwen followed, singing a even more stripped back version of _Royals_ than the original.

The show then went onto commercial break, giving the acts time to have a drink and refresh themselves. Once they came back, Gwaine, Sophia, the Sidhe and Bronwen were interviewed in the V-Room by Nimueh while the stage was wiped down and cleared.

Arthur and the other acts were expected to sit and smile throughout the break, though as he was sitting near the edge, it was simple enough to slip away. He went backstage and filled up his bottle of water at a nearby cooler. Producers, camera crew and other personnel were running around everywhere - clearly live television required enough constant attention to have triple the personnel from all the pre-recorded shows running about at all times. A runner nearly collided with Arthur on his way back to the V-Room, the cheers from the studio summoning him back.

When he sat back down, the show had already started rolling again, Helen belting out her notes to _Ain't Got Far To Go_. The staging was definitely the better of the ones seen so far, apart from Gwaine perhaps, as it too was simply staged with a rather chilled out feeling. Still, the coaches were critical, and even her coach, Freya, was the first to admit Helen had far stronger performances.

Mordred, who Arthur had battled against, was up after Helen. The crowd were quite subdued after the frankly brutal criticism of Helen, and he didn't help matters, performing a sombre rendition of _Thinking out Loud_ by Ed Sheeran. The whole strong had been stripped back and was for the most part A Capella, until the last thirty or so seconds. It did however highlight his voice well enough that the only complaints were his inability to sustain the long notes he set out for - his final one had cracked so hard his voice had gone off-key.

"It's simple." Lance said, "If you can't do a long note, don't, it won't sound any better no matter how hard you try if you can't hit it."

The party really started with Enmyria's performance. The staging was a real party as she sang _Lean On_ compete with a fifteen second dance break with her backing dancers-come-drummers. The crowd surged back onto it's feet as she worked both catwalks in a stylish jumpsuit, Lance dancing along in his chair as she did so.

The final act before the second break was Aithusa. She slowly took to stage as her promo aired, the runners taking away the drums from Enmyria's performance and rolling out a platform and some smoke machines. Aithusa nervously took to the platform, nearly tripping as she did so.

"She's dressed rather simply." Morgause whispered to Arthur from the row in front. Before he could answer however, two stage hands ran on with a simple but glamorous robe and wrapped Aithusa in it. The overall effect was rather classy, and gave the illusion she was nine feet tall as the robe covered the platform she stood on.

_The world was on fire and no one could save me but you._  
_It's strange what desire will make foolish people do._  
 _I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you._  
 _And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you._

_No, I don't want to fall in love_  
_No, I don't want to fall in love_  
 _With you, with you_  
  
_What a wicked game you play to make me feel this way._  
 _What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you._  
 _What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way._  
 _What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you_  
  
_And I wanna fall in love_  
 _No, I wanna fall in love_  
 _With you._  
  
_The world was on fire and no one could save me but you._  
 _It's strange what desire will make foolish people do._  
 _I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you._  
 _And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you,_  
  
_No, I wanna fall in love_  
 _No, I wanna fall in love_  
 _With you_  
 _With you_  
 _No, I..._  
 _(this girl is only gonna break your heart)_  
  
_Nobody loves no one._

As she sang, the whole crowd stood still, some waving torches and phones over their heads. All Aithusa did was stand there and sing her heart out, and by the end, all the judges were on their feet.

"Simple but amazing!" Gaius said.

"Probably one of the few times you've even stood for an act!" Morgana joked, wiping away a tear from her eye. All the coaches laughed.

Almost immediately after the show cut to a break on stage and the V-Room lit up, the acts being interviewed in the order they went on. It took Aithusa half of the break period to even make it back up to the V-Room due to the taking off of the dress robe. She sat next to Gwaine and he pulled her into a hug. The same sorts of questions were going round, so Arthur tuned out instead scanning the crowd.

A fair few of the people who hadn't made it this far were in the crowd, having been given complimentary tickets, though Arthur couldn't see Leon anywhere. But before he could look any further, Morgause was hugging him and running down the steps to the stage.

Before her performance started however, Morgause being the only one on-stage with a guitar, she spoke to the crowd. "I'd like to dedicate this performance to a legend that we lost."

_I never meant to cause you any sorrow_   
_I never meant to cause you any pain_   
_I only wanted one time to see you laughing_   
_I only want to see you laughing in the purple rain_

_The stage light slowly, a mixture of blue and red, to show Morgause standing there, guitar in hand, playing and singing into the microphone._  
  
_Purple rain Purple rain_  
 _Purple rain Purple rain_  
 _Purple rain Purple rain_  
  
_I only want to see you bathing in the purple rain_

_The screen behind her flashed, and begin to show a rain effect. Arthur could see on the monitor that the angles the cameras were taking never showed past the screen, giving the impression Morgause was stood singing in the rain._  
  
_I never wanted to be your weekend lover_  
 _I only wanted to be some kind of friend_  
 _Baby I could never steal you from another_  
 _It's such a shame our friendship had to end_  
  
_Purple rain Purple rain_  
 _Purple rain Purple rain_  
 _Purple rain Purple rain_  
  
_I only want to see you underneath the purple rain_  
  
_Honey I know, I know, I know times are changing_  
 _It's time we all reach out for something new_  
 _That means you too_  
 _You say you want a leader_  
 _But you can't seem to make up your mind_  
 _I think you better close it_  
 _And let me guide you to the purple rain_  
  
_Purple rain Purple rain_  
 _Purple rain Purple rain_  
  
_If you know what I'm singing about up here_  
 _C'mon raise your hand_  
  
_Purple rain Purple rain_  
  
_I only want to see you, only want to see you_  
 _In the purple rain_

"You just raised the bar" called out Freya in the following evaluation, though it was hard with the crowd still on their feet cheering out.

Morgana was screaming herself hoarse in her chair, clapping her hands over her head. Once she had calmed slightly, though her hair was still all over the place, she managed a sentence. "One of the best performances on this show, period!"

And so became what Arthur considered would be the fall of the esteemed vocalist that was Mr Kelda. He sang _Weight of Living_ , but coming off of the energy and hype of Morgause's performance, it fell very flat.

If anything it benefitted Will. Mr Kelda had caught the fallout of Morgause perfectly, enhancing his already smashing performance of _Go Your Own Way_ and had the crowd going again. He received praise as high as Morgause and Aithusa had, with Lance running up on stage to hug him. Behind him, Arthur could hear two of The Sidhe guys muttering to each other about favouritism.

The energy gradually lowered as Gwen and Merlin took to the stage. Everything was quiet as Nimueh introduced them. "Singing _Animal Fear_ , it's Gwen and Merlin!"

_I've been weeping silent like a wound_   
_Would you stitch me up_   
_Or let the blood suck through?_   
_Watching my world turn from white to maroon_

Gwen started them off as Merlin sung the backing vocal. The two swapped seamlessly, their voices not at all conflicting.

_Ignore my claws_  
_Look into my eyes_  
 _And convince us both_  
 _That I'll last through the night_

Again the staging was simple, the two of them singing together, with a backing band. But as the chorus rolled in, everything stepped up a notch, though subtlety. The lights grew as did the volume, the two of them no longer singing separately but their voices harmonising.

_I could land on my feet if i tried_  
_I never jumped a chasm so wide_  
 _And made it to the opposite side_  
 _Even now, as we are, standing here_  
 _I can see the doubt in your eyes_  
 _I can smell the animal fear_  
 _I can smell the animal fear_

_Hold my body, trembling fur and tooth_  
_I won't bite, or did I speak too soon?_  
 _Treacherous light that ignites the moon_

_And she calls my name_   
_And i howl her tune_   
_But the hunters slay_   
_By the clair of the moon_

Again the two switched, remaining harmonised, but Merlin was now singing the higher notes with just as much control as Gwen had, even though he was singing higher than Arthur thought he had ever heard him.

_I was raised with my face to the skies_  
_But I was not a heavenly child_  
 _Savage, with a temperament wild_  
 _Even here, as we are, standing now_  
 _I can see the fear in your eyes_  
 _I can taste the sweat I your brow_  
 _I can smell the animal fear_  
 _I can smell the animal fear_

The crowd clapped and cheered, and Morgana and Freya both stood up to cheer Merlin and Gwen on. Both looked immensely relieved as they got nothing but positive comments, especially about the effortless blending of their voices.

The break then cut the show back to the V-Room where Morgause, Will, Mr Kelda and Gwen and Merlin were interviewed by Kanen. He sneakily asked Gwen and Merlin if anything was going on, but the two laughed it off, Merlin's eyes making contact with Arthur as they did so.

The final quarter of solo performances then rolled around. Percival took to the stage first, performing a rather cheesy rendition of _Grenade_ , a rose in his hand the entire time. Vocally however he was sound.

Alvarr took to the stage next to sing _Total Eclipse of the Heart_ , which he did rather well with. Gaius was critical of his act however, even going as far as to say that he never wanted him to sing that song.

Before he knew it, Alvarr was retreating up the stairs to the V-Room and a producer was ushering him forward to the stop of the stairs. He smiled into the camera that panned in on his face, and when a stagehand gave him a signal, made his way down to the stage. Someone passed him his violin as the band gathered around their instruments on stage.

Everything was happening in such a rush. The whole crowd had their eyes on him, including Morgana, who smiled at him.

He could do this.

Not a moment after his introduction, he began to play, the violin slowly taking him through the introduction. He began to sing-speak softly into the microphone.

_I was on a heavy tip,_  
_Tryna cross a canyon with a broken limb._  
 _You were on the other side,_  
 _Like always, wondering what to do with life._  
 _I'd already had a sip,_  
 _So I'd reasoned I was drunk enough to deal with it._  
 _You were on the other side,_  
 _Like always, you could never make your mind._

He brought the violin down, but kept softly singing.  
  
_And with one kiss,_  
 _You inspired a fire of devotion,_  
 _That lasted for twenty years,_  
 _What kind of man loves like this?_

Everything went silent, the lights dimmed. It felt like an age but must have been moments until the lights began to flash as the bass and guitarists began to do their work. The violin on the floor beside him, Arthur grabbed the microphone stand and sang, sang for all his might.  
  
_To let me dangle at a cruel angle,_  
 _Oh my feet don't touch the floor._  
 _Sometimes you're half in and then you're half out,_  
 _But you never close the door._  
  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
 _What kind of man?_  
 _What kind of man loves like this_?  
_What kind of man?_  
  
_You're a holy fool all coloured blue,_  
 _Red feet upon the floor._  
 _You do such damage, how do you manage,_  
 _Tryna crawling back for more?_

Arthur was careful with his pitch, keeping is consistent and controlled. The lyrics flowed naturally, meaning he could easily add vocal flourishes, longer notes and pitch changes easily. Never did he stray to far from the original plan, he didn't want it to sound weird but wanted Morgana to be as surprised as she usually was with the non-rehearsed performances.  
  
_And with one kiss,_  
 _You inspired a fire of devotion,_  
 _That lasted for twenty years,_  
 _What kind of man loves like this?_  
  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
 _What kind of man?_  
 _What kind of man loves like this?_  
 _What kind of man?_  
  
_But I can't beat you,_  
 _Cause I'm still with you,_  
 _Oh mercy I implore!_  
 _How do you do it?_  
 _I think I'm through it,_  
 _Then I'm back against the wall._

He held the last note, bringing it as high as was in his range that he still could control. Through his eyes as he sang, he could see Freya's eyes widen as he went higher and higher, through falsetto and for a fleeting moment into whistle.  
  
_What kind of man loves like this?_  
 _What kind of man?_  
 _What kind of man loves like this?_  
 _What kind of man?_

The song ended with an abrupt finish. He had bent for his violin, and drew the bow across in a sharp note.

Why was he this sweaty? Arthur wondered as the crowd stood up to cheer. He hadn't realised how hot the studio was, but he stood there wiping his brow as Kanen calmed the crowd down.

"Excellent, just superb, and I thought you had a hell of a range before that whistle note!" Freya exclaimed, beaming at him.

"It's vocalists and instrumentalists like you who show that music isn't dying," Lance said, "You can take something already incredible, make it your own, add flourishes and absolutely nail it. Very well done."

Gaius simply nodded. "Uther would be so proud." he said.

Morgana coughed, then began. "I don't know where to begin. Seeing you from your first audition, now onto this stage on live television is a real treat. You're absolutely incredible, and you should be so proud."

Once all the comments had finished, the final Act of Elena took to the stage. She was covering CHVRCHES _The Mother We Share_ , though it was nothing like the original, her operatic tone mixed with the synth giving it a unique edge. As Morgana said in the comments after, "That was certainly something not seen before."

A producer ushered all of the acts down onto stage where they stood togther. Team Morgana was up first, so the four of them stood in a line, the other three teams in lines behind.

"Morgana, four fantastic performances, but two fast passes." Nimueh said, "What are you going to do."

Morgana stood up in her chair. "I'm proud of all of you, and I have no doubts that you'll get through the public vote, regardless of who I send through now. But here we go." She slammed her button. "The two people who impressed me most were..." she paused for dramatic effect. "Morgause and Aithusa."

The stage lit up in flashing lights as Morgause and Aithusa hugged Arthur and Gwaine and made their way back to the V-Room. Arthur couldn't disagree with Morgana's choices, though nerves were beginning to settle in now his fate was not so secure.

The four of them then retreated to the V-Room where they watched the rest of the fast passes get awarded. Gaius sent Mordred and Bronwen through, whilst Freya opted for Merlin and Gwen and Elena. Lance sent through Will, surprise surprise, and Enmyria.

Nimueh and Kanen then opened up the public vote with a syncronised "Start Voting Now!" before joining the acts up in the V-Room. Once the recaps of the performances with the voting numbers were done, he and the other final four acts were interviewed.

Nimueh's questions were typical, such as why did he get into music and whether or not he felt pressure due to his father and mothers fame? Arthur responded to both with the same answers he gave everytime. Kanen however, asked about the other competitors, and who's performance was his favourite.

"It had to be Morgause, never have I seen a performance so amazing."

The other final three gave the same response as he did, Morgause had really brought the roof down.

Now what was left was awkward waiting. The group performances were the first part, Morgana's team opening with _Firework_ followed by Freya's team who sang _Sound of the Underground._ Lance's team sang another Fleetwood Mac song, like Will had, this time going with _Little Lies_. Gaius' team sang some number Arthur didn't think he even knew, but was probably not going to do Alvarr or Mr Kelda any favours.

Then more interviews followed, all of which zoomed right past Arthur. He was fixated on the future, ten or fifteen minutes ahead now the vote had closed, as to whether or not he was going to remain in the competition.

After one last performance from a celebrity guest, the winner of the previous season of the show, Arthur, Gwaine and the others not sent through made their way to stage. The lights dimmed around them, as Nimueh began to read.

"There will be four qualifiers from the eight standing herre. They shall be read in a random order and can come from any team. The first qualifier is." She opened an envelope. "IT'S GWAINE FROM TEAM MORGANA!" she yelled as the crowd erupted.

Morgana ran up and hugged Gwaine as he made his way down the catwalk back to the V-Room, and as she returned to her seat, Kanen called out the next qualifier.

"Our next qualifier to the second Live Show is... SOPHIA FROM TEAM FREYA!"

The crowd again began to cheer as Sophia began to cry, smile and laugh all at the same time. Freya met her at the end of the stage and walked her to the V-Room.

"This is tense." said Nimueh.

"Oh yes." replied Kanen. "Two more acts through out of the six before us."

"And the third act through", continued Nimueh, "Is ARTHUR FROM TEAM MORGANA!"

A weight lifted off Arthurs shoulders. He had made it, he had made it through. As he hugged his way down the line and ran to Morgana who met him in a big embrace, he could hear Kanen over the yells of the crowd.

"All four through for Morgana, that's impressive. We still have one place and it can go to The Sidhe, Percival, Mr Kelda, Alvarr or Helen. Who will it be?" Kanen asked the audience at loud. All of them began to yell loudly, different names being thrown from all corners of the studio.

Arthur sat with the rest of his team, all cheering together in a tight embrace, until Kanen brought the room to silence once more.

"The final act progressing to the next show is... PERCIVAL FROM TEAM LANCE!"

The crowd erupted for a final time as Percival fell to his knees, the acts beside him cheering. Arthur could see Alvarr and some of the Sidhe trying to smile but evidently scowling.

"That means leaving us are The Sidhe, Helen, Alvarr and Mr Kelda. Thank you all, coaches if you would like to come see your acts." Nimueh called over the bellowing in the studio.

A producer indicated the acts through were to leave after a few cameras took shots of them sitting in the V-Room, and they were lead backstage, and told to meet in their coaches studio room fifteen minutes later.

Morgauses family dashed up to her in the corridor, as did the families and partners of many others. Arthur stood at the back, drinking water from his waterbottle until someone tapped him on the back.

"I knew you'd do it."

Arthur turned.

It was Leon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay yes it's been a decade since this was last updated and I apologise because there aren't going to be any updates for a while. This isn't my best chapter writing, especially towards the end, but it needed to be done. I have exams literally all of this month, eight in total, five compressed into five days because I wasn't having a hard enough time as it is with these life changing exams, hence the slowness of these updates. But regardless, I hope you enjoy. Thinking of writing two alternative endings for this depending on how things go down, let me know what you think!


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